Operating Quietly, Tattoo Artists Make Their Mark in Iraq

(Naseer Nouri - Ftwp)

In the friends' neighborhood of Sadr City, a tattoo artist works in a market stall powering his tools off a car battery. The owner of the shop learned his trade while living in Lebanon in the early 1990s. When he returned to Iraq after the 2003 invasion, he found the wartime economy desolate and opened his shop because he could not find other work. He worked clandestinely, hoping for a more tolerant future.

"I don't want to talk about politics. I just want to live a normal life," he said. "But they won't let me, because everyone tries to force their ideology on me."

Back in the tattoo parlor above the art gallery, the owner turned to Ibrahim Samat and hurriedly finished his tiger tattoo while there was still electricity in the shop. When he finished, Samat walked across the room to the full-length mirror.

"Beautiful," he said. "Very beautiful."

This week, the owner's secret was revealed. Police officers from the Interior Ministry found Dawood Salaman Saleh in his shop, took him to headquarters and forced him to sign a letter promising he would never draw another tattoo, he said. He suspects he tattooed one of the policemen, who then informed his superiors.

Saleh plans to seek asylum in Egypt, someplace where a man could live a quieter life, where a man could draw a picture of a tiger.

Special correspondents Omar Fekeiki and Saad al-Izzi in Baghdad and staff researcher Magda Jean-Louis in Washington contributed to this report.