Baghdad's minibus taxis bridge sectarian divide (Reuters)

By Aws Qusay 18 minutes ago BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Baghdad's minibus taxi drivers are returning to once deadly routes as security in the Iraqi capital improves, allowing them once again to drive between Sunni and Shi'ite areas and link divided communities. As Iraq drifted towards civil war in 2006 and early 2007, many areas in Baghdad became sectarian no-go zones. Minibus taxi drivers found themselves on the front-line, targeted by militias who wanted to entrench divisions through fear. "The criminals tried to separate and isolate areas ... but they could not do it," said Abu Ala, who drives a minibus taxi between the Sunni Arab town of Taji, near the capital, to Kadhimiya, a Shi'ite area of northern Baghdad. At the height of the violence, minibus taxi operators risked being stopped at fake checkpoints where death squads... [read full story]