Sun April 20, 2003 08:26 AM ET By Rosalind Russell
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - It would not be Washington's first choice, but the long-banned Iraq Communist Party on Sunday won the race to publish the first newspaper in Baghdad since the fall of Saddam Hussein.
The eight-page "People's Path" was handed out for free, snapped up eagerly by passers-by hungry for any kind of news after the U.S. invasion eradicated state-run media.
"Collapse of a Dictator" read the headline under the hammer and sickle on the front page, followed by an article railing against the abuses of Saddam's "bloody, terrorist reign."
"With the dictatorship's collapse, all the wishes of the vast majority of the Iraqi people have come true," it said, printed around a picture of a child victim of the U.S.-led war, his head bandaged and a tear rolling down his cheek.
When U.S. forces rolled into Baghdad 11 days ago, ending Saddam's rule and toppling a statue of him for good measure, they created an information and authority void, with practically no electricity, no papers, no TV and no officialdom to turn to.
Angry citizens yearn for order and advice, but the last written U.S. information came in the form of airdropped leaflets urging people to stay calm during the war.
Others have moved in to fill the void, with influential religious leaders setting up community services, but the Communists were the first into print.
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