Crossing Continents - Baghdad Airport

Gabriel Gatehouse hears the extraordinary tales of the people coming into and out of Iraq - and paints a portrait of a still troubled country through its international gateway.

It's not been the safest of places: one worker describes seeing a car bomb attack on the airport road and you still need to pass through five checkpoints to enter the terminal. Gabriel meets the people entering the country - like British and Ugandan security men, and pilgrims from Iran, bound for Iraq's Shia holy sites. There are the people leaving Iraq, including a Christian family who fear for their lives if they stay. And then there are the people who live in the airport compound - like the American air traffic controller who never leaves, except to return home on holiday.

Producer: Becky Lipscombe.

Published on Thursday, 24th March 2011.

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