Public sports in post-war Iraq

Kirkuk team player Abbas Mohammed (L) tries to block a pass against Nassiriyah team player Jassim Jaber during their match at the Shaab indoor arena in central Baghdad, on July 30, 2009. Nassiriyah won 17-11. Eight teams from across Iraq came to play in the national disabled basketball finals in Baghdad. [Photo/icpress]

Iraqi disabled swimmer Hamza Hamid speaks with his trainer before starting a training at Baghdad's Olympic pool, on June 12, 2006. The acrid smell of chlorine is a constant, pungent presence in the vast indoor Olympic pool in northern Baghdad where Hamza Hamid and his teammates prepare for an upcoming swimming competition. The air-conditioning at the former Olympic compound never seems to work properly and when the summer temperatures soar into the high 40s (120F), the hot humid air combined with the chlorine has been known to make the swimmers pass out. On first impression, Hamid and his teammates seem like any collection of athletes warming up for a sport, but then it becomes clear that everyone is missing a limb. [Photo/icpress]