Bike race brings joy to former Qaeda hotbed in Iraq

By Yasser Faisal

FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) - About 150 students wearing colourful T-shirts competed in a bicycle race in Falluja on Tuesday, an unimaginable event a year ago in what was once an al Qaeda hotbed and one of Iraq's most dangerous cities.

The city's police chief fired the starting shot to set the students from 15 intermediate and secondary schools off on the 5-km (3-mile) race across Falluja, 50 km (32 miles) west of Baghdad.

Police motorbikes escorted them along the road and scores of policemen in blue uniforms were deployed around the start and finish lines.

"This race made us happy. We needed this because of what we have been through," Ayad Ghaleb Salem, a school teacher, told Reuters. "We have gotten used to a difficult life."

Scores of families lined the streets to watch the race and residents of the milled around the riders to congratulate them after the race.

Security in Falluja, scene of some of the fiercest battles in Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein, has gradually improved this year and something resembling normal life is returning to the city.

A year ago western Anbar, in which Falluja sits, was second only to Baghdad as the most violent province in Iraq.

The turnaround in Falluja's security happened after the development of U.S.-backed neighbourhood police units formed by local Sunni Arab tribal leaders to drive al Qaeda out of Anbar.

"This proves that the security situation in Falluja is very good," said Colonel Faisel Ismael, head of the city's police.

"This is the beginning of good things in Falluja," he added.

Haitham Abdul-Razek raised his arms in the air as he crossed the finish line to win a $1,000 (484 pound) cash prize and a trophy.

"Bring the trophy, bring it," some students chanted after the race, echoing a popular song among Iraqis after their national soccer team won the Asian Cup this year.

"Even though I did not win I am happy that Falluja's name was held up high today," rider Marwan Khoedeiri, 17, said, adding he had not been scared to compete because of the security provided by police and army.

Attacks across Iraq have fallen by 55 percent since a "surge" of 30,000 extra troops became fully deployed in mid-June, part of a security crackdown aimed at averting civil war between majority Shi'ite Muslims and minority Sunni Arabs.

Despite the improvement the largely Sunni Arab province of Anbar ranked fifth in attacks among Iraq's 18 provinces from early May to late July this year, according to a quarterly Pentagon report released in September.

(Writing by Alaa Shahine; editing by Sami Aboudi)