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Cockfighting More Popular Than Ever,
Sulaimaniyah
4.8.2006
By Aso Sarawee in Sulaimaniyah (ICR No. 188)
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Bird flu scare did little to hinder a traditional
spectator sport in the Kurdish north.
Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan-Iraq
Nuri Rahima Shwan’s teahouse in the northern city of
Sulaimaniyah offers a lot more than just Iraq's
famously brewed tea.
On Fridays from 10 am to 2 pm, he runs cockfighting
matches that pull in punters paying 500 dinar (35 US
cents) each to watch an assortment of birds battle
it out in a small outbuilding – and to bet on the
outcome.
Cockfighting has been a weekend activity for men in
this northeastern Kurdish province for decades.
A bird flu scare in the region earlier this year
briefly slowed the action at Shwan's, but he said
business is now better than ever.
"I have 60 customers," he said. "I believe it's
growing daily."
Cockfighting and dog fights are popular spectator
sports for men in Sulaimaniyah, and matches are
deadly serious for devotees.
Gambling is legal, with some restrictions, in
Sulaimaniyah, and at Shwan’s teahouse they will bet
up to 20 dollars on a bird that looks to be in good
form.
The owners look on the birds as investments, and
give them grand names like “the King”.
Dana Muhammed, 30, is the proud owner of Pharaoh,
for which he paid a cool 1,000 dollars in Syria. He
believes it the most expensive fighter in
Sulaimaniyah.
"He’s never been defeated. He’s fought five times in
Syria, three times in Baghdad and once in
Sulaimaniyah," he explained. "He’s won all his
fights, which is why he’s known as Pharaoh."
Briyar Kareem, 26, brings his bird to Shwan's
teashop every Friday. He regularly films the
encounters and said the most exciting cockfight he
has seen was in Erbil, and lasted two hours.
"The [loser’s] owner said he’d purchased it for 800
dollars," Kareem recalled. "When it was defeated he
sold it for 10 dollars."
All free-range birds were supposed to have been
slaughtered in Sulaimaniyah following the death of
at least one resident from the deadly H591 virus.
During the scare, Barzan Alladin sold off eight
cocks worth 200-300 dollars each for just 15-20
dollars during the bird flu scare.
He still comes to Shwan's every Friday to watch the
matches, but does so with a long face. "I lost some
of my best cocks, and it's not easy to get ones like
them again," he said.
Shwan sent his own prizefighters – all eight of them
- to live with a relative in Kirkuk, and retrieved
them once the bird flu panic was over.
"It's a pastime we can't give up," he said. "Dogs
and cockerels instinctively start fighting as soon
as they see one another."
Ali Abbas, 25, is another enthusiast but unlike
many, he recognises the sport is morally
questionable.
"I know staging fights between them is bad - but
there’s a lot of fighting in this country," he said.
"This fighting is better than all the other
violence, because at least no one gets killed."
Aso Sarawee is an IWPR trainee journalist in
Sulaimaniyah.
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