[Carolina]

Wedding Boom Hits Baghdad, but No Divorces

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The good news for Baghdad residents is that it is possible to get married legally once again, after a two-month hiatus during the U.S.-led war.

The bad news is that they can't get divorced.

Adhamiya civil court, the only functioning civil court in the Iraqi capital, began registering marriages again on May 22. Since then, chief judge Jamal al-Rawi has approved more than 800 marriage contracts.

Before the court system collapsed during the war that deposed leader Saddam Hussein (news - web sites), he processed around 20 a month.

Sitting behind a desk piled high with papers as young couples and their families crowded outside his office waiting to get their marriages approved, a weary Rawi said that he was working as fast as he could. But rebuilding the legal system will take a lot of time and effort, he said.

"All the other civil courts in Baghdad were looted or set ablaze," he said. "This is the only one left. Everybody who wants a marriage contract has to come here now. And there was a backlog of weddings because of the war. It has been very busy."

The court is so overwhelmed and under-resourced that the only service it currently provides is approving marriages. Rawi says he hopes to restart hearing divorce cases and settling family disputes later this month.

"Divorces can take a long time," he said. "It's fine if both parties agree, but usually there is a disagreement and they are quarrelling and there are all sorts of things to resolve. We can't handle that sort of thing at the moment."

[Carolina]

Baghdad: Iraq's first Boy Band Hopes For Stardom

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - They call themselves "Unknown To No One", but the five Iraqis bidding to become the world's next chart-topping boy band are not exactly famous. Yet.

Despite being so short of places to rehearse that they often have to practice their singing while driving around the bomb- scarred streets of Baghdad crammed into an old Volkswagen Passat, the five young men have attracted the interest of a British pop consultant who thinks they can make it big.

The toppling of Saddam Hussein has given them the chance to chase their dream. But militant Muslim groups are growing in influence in Iraq -- and the last thing they would want to see is an Iraqi boy band singing and dancing in matching outfits.

Cinemas, breweries and alcohol stores have been threatened and attacked by militant groups, and in many areas women have been told not to walk outdoors without a veil. But Unknown To No One say they won't let extremists get in their way.

"We lived under dictatorship for 35 years. I'm not prepared to go through that again, and I don't think anybody is," said lead singer Nadeem Hamed, a 20-year-old biology student. "If people attack us for being in a band, that's terrorism."

The band's members -- they chose five as it is the standard boy band size -- span Iraq's religious and ethnic spectrum.

Founders Art Haroutunian, 25, and Shant Garabedian, 24, are Armenian Christians. Diyar Diler is a 21-year-old Sunni Muslim Kurd. Hamed and 21-year-old Hassan Ali al-Falluji are Shi'ite Arabs.

"We are all brothers here," said Haroutunian, who writes the band's songs. "There is no racism. No civil war."

Hee. Rock on.