Seated at tables with glasses of tea in the heart of Baghdad`s bookshop district, the customers of Shabandar cafe have watched 100 years of Iraq`s tumultuous history pass by. Since opening its doors a century ago, the establishment has become a hub of Baghdad`s intellectual life, drawing poets and politicians to its wooden benches and photo-lined walls. `I`ve been coming here for the past 60 years,` Abdel Fattah al-Noeimi, 77, tells AFP, dapper in his spotless brown suit and matching tie. `At nine in the morning until two or three in the afternoon, when everyone is leaving.` From British rule to modern-day Iraq, Shabandar has lived through the birth of a nation, the toppling of its monarchy, decades of domination by Saddam Hussein, the drama of the US-led invasion and the bloody chaos that followed. The twists and tragedies have all left their mark on the cafe.
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