An Arabian horse enthusiast gets closer to dream of resurrecting Iraqi equine industry

STORY: An Arabian horse enthusiast gets closer to dream of resurrecting Iraqi equine industry DATELINE: June 5, 2022 LENGTH: 0:03:48 LOCATION: Baghdad CATEGORY: SOCIETY SHOTLIST: 1. various of purebred Arabian horses in al-Zawraa Park in Baghdad 2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Arabic): DR. BAKR FAROUQ, Veterinarian in charge of the Arabian Horse Care Department in al-Zawraa Park 3. SOUNDBITE 2 (Arabic): AL-KHAFAJI DIAA, Arabian horse breeder and horse racing enthusiast 4. SOUNDBITE 3 (Arabic): Ali KADHIM MOHAMMAD, Director of the Iraqi Central School for Equestrian Education STORYLINE: Back in 2003 during the U.S-led invasion of Iraq, Bakr Farouq, an Iraqi veterinarian, managed to save 16 rare purebred Arabian horses owned by former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Farouq, now the head of the Arabian Horse Care Department in Baghdad's al-Zawraa Park, then risked his life in evacuating the horses, owned by Hussein's Arabian Knight Club, from the presidential palace to the Iraqi Equestrian Club in the al-Ameriyah neighborhood