THE REACH OF WAR IN IRAQ.

• Iraq - Basra
• Pulses anew With Life

 

BASRA, Iraq, June 25 - There is a famous Iraqi folk song called "He Went to Basra and Forgot About Us." It tells of love and broken promises and wounds that cannot be healed.

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As days have grown longer, Basra residents have returned to Corniche, the city's riverbank walkway, and it is again the center of night life.

Abdul Raheem Sultan listened to a tape of it on Thursday as he drove the six dusty hours to Basra, his hometown, from Baghdad. He said he had not been back in 20 years, and he wanted to see it one last time before moving his family to Cairo to escape the war.