Reuters | Latest Financial News / Full News Coverage: "TIKRIT, Iraq (Reuters) - The U.S. army opened the first unrestricted Internet access in Saddam Hussein's home town of Tikrit Saturday in a bid to convince skeptical Iraqis their occupation will bring tangible benefits.
Naji Dawood Khalid, who works at the new cafe, said at the previous government-controlled Internet office on the same site, he would allow some trusted friends to surf more freely.
"But they were watching in Baghdad and they would call and say 'Computer No. 11 is using a bad site' so it was a big risk. Once, they cut my wages by half and threatened to put me in jail," he said.
The inauguration of the cafe was delayed several times because of attacks in Tikrit from anti-American guerrillas, including an explosion nearby which blew the windows out and damaged equipment barely a week previously.
In Tikrit Saturday, new users were eagerly checking news about British football and Hollywood celebrities, as well as testing out search engines by typing in requests for "George Bush" and "Saddam Hussein.""
Very nice.
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