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Iraqi refugees in despair in Jordan long for Saddam era

While life wasn't perfect under the rule of President Saddam Hussein, it was much better than today, according to Iraqi refugees in Jordan.
An Iraqi girl in sits in a car outside a shopping mall in Amman January 31, 2007. Violence in Iraq and instability in Lebanon are driving hundreds of thousands of people abroad in an upheaval not matched in the Middle East since the exodus of Palestinian refugees when Israel was created in 1948. To match feature MIGRATION-MIDEAST. REUTERS/Ali Jarekji    (JORDAN) - RTR1LU56

AMMAN, Jordan — In a small cafe in Amman, Syrian, Palestinian and Iraqi customers are smoking the hookah and drinking coffee. They enjoy a quiet evening watching the World Cup on a large TV screen. King Abdullah's portrait hangs on the wall next to the screen.

The Iraqi owner of the cafe, Farouq, moved from Baghdad to Amman in 2004 to escape the war in Iraq. He went back and forth several times in the first few years, until he realized that it was better for him to start a new life in Jordan, as he could not have a normal life in Iraq. Now he lives with his wife and two children in Amman.

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