:00:44. > :00:54.This is not what you imagined when you think of Iraq. People think of
:00:54. > :00:59.
:00:59. > :01:04.danger, but not from this. Paragliding off the side of a
:01:04. > :01:08.mountain, just 20 minutes outside Mosul in northern Iraq, one of the
:01:08. > :01:15.world's most dangerous cities. Trying to meet these daredevils on
:01:15. > :01:23.their turf is no easy task. Mosul is the headquarters for Al-Qaeda in
:01:23. > :01:31.Iraq. Since the US-led invasion ten years ago, the City has seen almost
:01:31. > :01:35.daily bombings and assassinations. In recent months, Sunni protests
:01:35. > :01:45.against the Shia dominated central government in Baghdad has brought
:01:45. > :01:49.tens of thousands onto the streets, making the city even more tense.
:01:49. > :01:55.For the 200 strong members of the Falcon Aviation Club, it is also
:01:55. > :02:05.home. Although they may prefer it here. Especially nine-year-old
:02:05. > :02:06.
:02:06. > :02:11.Yousef, the youngest member, who cannot wait to get in the air. His
:02:11. > :02:18.father was a military pilot who flew in Saddam Hussein's Air Force.
:02:18. > :02:23.He is the leader of the group. He has always loved flying.
:02:23. > :02:27.TRANSLATION: When I was a little kid, I used to build paper planes.
:02:27. > :02:33.The walls of my room was filled with pictures of drawing as of
:02:33. > :02:40.planes. If I heard a plane, I would run outside to see it. But it is
:02:40. > :02:45.not an adventure just for the boys. There are 18 female members. Dr
:02:45. > :02:51.Nawal has been flying even longer than the captain. A Christian, the
:02:51. > :02:56.freedom she feels when she is with the club reminds her of better days.
:02:56. > :03:02.TRANSLATION: I remember the days when we used to go to breakfast in
:03:02. > :03:08.Mosul wearing our flight suits. No- one said anything. Before the fall
:03:08. > :03:14.of Baghdad, we had a lot more freedom, especially as Christians.
:03:14. > :03:19.His older son captain -- Yaseen is one of the best paragliding people
:03:19. > :03:29.in the group. The 19-year-old student is proud to follow in his
:03:29. > :03:31.
:03:31. > :03:35.father's footsteps. He is proud to be from Mosul. TRANSLATION: The
:03:36. > :03:41.world does not see Mosul as it is. The world sees it from the outside.
:03:41. > :03:44.They focus on the security situation with the terrorism, the
:03:44. > :03:51.American occupation and the destruction, they do not know much
:03:51. > :03:58.about the people of Mosul, how loving and educated they are.
:03:58. > :04:06.Flying is his 42-year-old's new passion. It changes every two
:04:06. > :04:13.minutes. Recently divorced, she wants to take on new challenges.
:04:14. > :04:22.love life, I love sports. Such as swimming and tennis. That is my
:04:22. > :04:31.favourite. I look to everything positively. I do not have negative
:04:31. > :04:36.thoughts on someone or anyone. every take off is a success. I had
:04:36. > :04:43.seen the same person crash three times. I wonder why he keeps going
:04:43. > :04:48.back. Why is he doing this? But for these fliers, it does not matter.
:04:48. > :04:58.If you face what they do every day, a bit of a bump here and there is
:04:58. > :05:00.
:05:00. > :05:06.not the end of the world. Paying out here, I'm reminded that there
:05:06. > :05:13.is so much more to Iraq offenders war and conflict. These people are
:05:13. > :05:19.tar''s middle class. But we do not normally get to see their lives. --
:05:19. > :05:23.Mosul's middle class. It is too dangerous for me to film freely, I
:05:23. > :05:31.am a target. So the captain and his team offered to film their lights
:05:31. > :05:36.themselves. He is on his morning commute, along with hundreds of
:05:36. > :05:42.thousands of others in Iraq's third largest city. Once a prosperous
:05:42. > :05:47.place, security was not on their minds before the invasion.
:05:47. > :05:52.TRANSLATION: Of course it was better before 2003. One police
:05:52. > :05:57.officer could have looked after half of the city. He saves violence
:05:57. > :06:03.has become so ordinary that its absence is extraordinary. -- he
:06:03. > :06:08.says. But losing people you care about us not get any easier.
:06:08. > :06:16.TRANSLATION: It is a very painful thing. I expect the same thing to
:06:16. > :06:23.happen to me any day. You try to make new friends, but after a few
:06:23. > :06:27.years, you realise the friendship is not the same. His best parts
:06:27. > :06:37.business pays the bills, but it is trying to restore the flying club
:06:37. > :06:46.that gives his life meaning. As he receives an award for service to
:06:46. > :06:56.his community... I realise how important the story of Mosul's
:06:56. > :07:00.
:07:00. > :07:05.right is taking. -- pride. When there is time to rest, he wants to
:07:05. > :07:12.be at home. Just enjoying the pleasures of being together as a
:07:12. > :07:17.family. TRANSLATION: Even if I move to a modern, beautiful city with
:07:17. > :07:21.the buildings and lots of greenery, it still does not compare to living
:07:21. > :07:31.amongst my people and my family, on the land that I was born on, and
:07:31. > :07:41.God willing, will die on. For Dr Nawal, sport is part of her day,
:07:41. > :07:47.
:07:47. > :07:52.every day. Here, she teaches a gales gym class in Mosul. A girls'.
:07:52. > :07:57.TRANSLATION: The best part of my day, when I am with my students. My
:07:58. > :08:04.relationship with them is more of a friendship than a teacher student
:08:05. > :08:10.relationship. Her faith, another central part of her life. Being a
:08:10. > :08:16.Christian is not easy in Mosul. In fact, this church is outside of
:08:16. > :08:21.town. Nearly two-thirds of Mosul's Christian population before the war
:08:21. > :08:25.have fled. Tens of thousands of people driven out when militants
:08:25. > :08:31.began a violent campaign to force Christians from what was once
:08:31. > :08:38.Iraq's most diversity. For Dr Nawal, the worst day of her life was when
:08:38. > :08:43.a bus carrying Christians was bombed. TRANSLATION: I was on the
:08:43. > :08:48.first bars, while my daughter was on the third one. After the first
:08:48. > :08:56.explosion went off, I caught my doctor and I said, what is going
:08:56. > :09:00.on? She said it was OK. -- would my daughter. After the second
:09:00. > :09:05.explosion, my communication broke down. I kept trying to call her and
:09:05. > :09:10.then I could not reach her. When they were moving the injured, one
:09:10. > :09:20.of the students asked me if I was Tamara's mother. She told me that
:09:20. > :09:25.
:09:25. > :09:30.she was injured. Her daughter has now recovered. Even if you live in
:09:30. > :09:37.one of the most dangerous places on earth, there is no escaping the
:09:37. > :09:42.weekly shopping. Or feeding the family. All while being a pioneer
:09:42. > :09:46.for Arab women. She was the first female hang-glider in the Arab
:09:46. > :09:54.world, the first women to parachute in her province, and neither age
:09:54. > :10:00.nor family has changed that. TRANSLATION: I love flying. My love
:10:00. > :10:09.of flying runs in my blood now. Even when I see skydiving on the TV,
:10:09. > :10:16.I feel like joining them. Her life now seems relatively peaceful. But
:10:16. > :10:21.more and more, Dr Nawal things about leaving Iraq. -- thinks.
:10:21. > :10:27.TRANSLATION: It is getting worse. It is true that sometimes it is
:10:27. > :10:34.quiet, but it might just be the calm before the storm. A scene like
:10:34. > :10:39.this could be anywhere in the world. And they enjoy a night out. But
:10:39. > :10:46.there are different dangers. He says that he has had near-misses. I
:10:46. > :10:51.ask him if his mother worries. TRANSLATION: About what? We do not
:10:51. > :11:00.tell them until we are actually home so they do not get worried and
:11:00. > :11:05.keep trying to phone us. She worries all the time. They are a
:11:05. > :11:15.tight-knit group that look out for each other. But some things cannot
:11:15. > :11:15.
:11:15. > :11:25.be escaped. TRANSLATION: Fee was part of my day? School. -- the
:11:25. > :11:28.
:11:28. > :11:34.worst. Yaseen wants to show us a different side to Mosul. Eager for
:11:34. > :11:39.any chance to be an ambassador for he city. No talk of leaving for him.
:11:39. > :11:49.If you could live anywhere else in the world, where would it be?
:11:49. > :11:50.
:11:50. > :11:59.TRANSLATION: I would only lived in Iraq. The best country. As a woman
:11:59. > :12:09.alone, she found it hard to film outside. There are more roles for
:12:09. > :12:10.
:12:10. > :12:15.women in a city where extremists holds sway. -- rules. The moment
:12:15. > :12:25.that I am flying, I even forget that I'm going down. I am so happy
:12:25. > :12:27.
:12:27. > :12:32.that I forget I am landing. teacher who has moved back in with
:12:32. > :12:42.her parents after her divorce, learning to fly makes her feel
:12:42. > :12:50.
:12:51. > :13:00.independent again. When I fly, it is a big thing. The only thing that
:13:01. > :13:02.
:13:02. > :13:11.brings her down is the violence in her city. I hate it. It is not good
:13:11. > :13:21.for anyone. Not for us, not for the eyes of the world, when they see us
:13:21. > :13:28.
:13:28. > :13:38.Back and the mountain, the group are showing the world a different
:13:38. > :13:45.way to do you most -- Mosulese. This man wants to fly next. He is
:13:45. > :13:55.desperate for it to be his turn. You're ready to go. You're ready to
:13:55. > :13:59.
:13:59. > :14:09.fly. But he will have to wait. You have never flown from this high up?
:14:09. > :14:12.
:14:12. > :14:22.Yes. What are you thinking?Nothing. I think I will be afraid. I try it.
:14:22. > :14:40.
:14:40. > :14:50.Down below, local dailies are enjoying a day off. A barbecue and
:14:50. > :15:05.
:15:05. > :15:13.the show. Not everyone is paying You would never think you would
:15:13. > :15:19.find Iraqi men on the outskirts of Mosul doing the Gangnam Style. I'm
:15:19. > :15:29.invited over to meet one family. Have you ever seen people flying in
:15:29. > :15:30.
:15:30. > :15:40.the sky before? Everyone here wants to escape the pressures of life in
:15:40. > :15:59.
:15:59. > :16:09.I want to see Mosul for myself. I have an invitation from the man in
:16:09. > :16:14.
:16:14. > :16:19.Every day, the city is under attack. Just in the week before my visit,
:16:19. > :16:22.nine soldiers were killed in a suicide bombing. A policeman was
:16:22. > :16:32.beheaded, along with numerous assassination attempts and
:16:32. > :16:32.
:16:32. > :16:42.kidnappings. The last time the BBC went their four years ago, it was
:16:42. > :16:43.
:16:43. > :16:48.like this. With humvees and American soldiers. We are taking a
:16:48. > :16:53.more low-profile approach this time. The cars have now stopped and from
:16:53. > :16:57.this point onwards I will be travelling without my team. It is
:16:57. > :17:07.too dangerous for two Westerners to travel together so we are being
:17:07. > :17:09.
:17:09. > :17:19.separated. From this point onwards, I will be going alone. Without my
:17:19. > :17:22.
:17:23. > :17:27.cameraman, I film secretly. Trying not to draw attention to myself. I
:17:27. > :17:37.have been asked to take off my seatbelt because that is a sign of
:17:37. > :17:46.
:17:46. > :17:51.We have just arrived at the checkpoint. This is the entrance
:17:51. > :17:55.into the city and we are in a queue of cars trying to get in. It is at
:17:55. > :18:02.this checkpoint did I feel most nervous because it is here, where
:18:02. > :18:06.there are a lot of suicide attacks. The distance between areas
:18:06. > :18:14.controlled by the army and those controlled by the militants is
:18:14. > :18:20.disturbingly close. The area we are passing now is an industrial area.
:18:20. > :18:26.It is a few metres past the main checkpoint. Apparently they use and
:18:26. > :18:35.prepared for car bombs right here. It is quite a dangerous area. As I
:18:35. > :18:45.move into the heart of Mosul, I feel the anxiety of the city. It
:18:45. > :18:48.feels like a long time to our destination. We have just entered
:18:49. > :18:54.the heavily fortified Green Zone, which is where the compound of the
:18:54. > :18:58.Governor is. This area is protected by a high concrete walls and is
:18:58. > :19:07.heavily guarded. Obviously you have to be an official to be able to
:19:07. > :19:13.stay. Everyone else is out in the Red Zone. We are now inside the
:19:13. > :19:17.Governor's Office. It is a waiting game now until he is ready to see
:19:17. > :19:26.us. Now that we have arrived in town, we could be spotted, so our
:19:26. > :19:29.clock is ticking. Downstairs, the man I am waiting for has arrived.
:19:29. > :19:33.The governor, a Sony, is angry with the army, which answers to the
:19:33. > :19:43.central government in Baghdad. Both the Government and the army are
:19:43. > :19:47.predominantly Shia. TRANSLATION: We are always calling on them to leave
:19:47. > :19:53.so that it -- so that the city goes back to the way it was before. So
:19:53. > :19:57.that only the police are in charge of security. No another treat
:19:57. > :20:03.civilians the same way they were treated by the American forces. --
:20:03. > :20:08.not an army that treats. While I am there a group of builders arrived
:20:09. > :20:18.to complain to the army about how she up army are treating protesters.
:20:19. > :20:39.
:20:39. > :20:44.It is clear whether sympathies of He promises then many will take
:20:44. > :20:49.action. I am surprised Heller pin he is about the split between him
:20:49. > :20:54.and Baghdad. But he is frustrated that more than three years after
:20:54. > :21:01.taking control back from the Americans these tensions can to new
:21:01. > :21:05.to distract from rebuilding the city. -- continue. TRANSLATION:
:21:05. > :21:09.When we were given back the city, most of the everyday activities had
:21:09. > :21:19.stopped so it was crucial we get the civilians back to work. This is
:21:19. > :21:20.
:21:21. > :21:27.On my way out, I try and taking as much as I can. Aside from
:21:28. > :21:33.checkpoints, I also see a lot of cranes and building sites. In fact,
:21:33. > :21:38.Prime Minister Leakey promised $100 million to rebuild the city. -- al-
:21:38. > :21:45.Maliki. Everyone agrees it is a challenge are amongst all this
:21:45. > :21:50.chaos. 1 minute things are fine and then the next... A car just
:21:50. > :21:57.suddenly pulled up next to last and everyone suddenly felt very tense.
:21:57. > :22:05.It was obviously nothing. Anything like that, you are busy on high
:22:05. > :22:11.alert. Any kind of strange movement around it creates a bit of tension.
:22:11. > :22:16.A world away from the tension and troubles in Mosul you would never
:22:16. > :22:26.think that the place I have just experienced is the same place these
:22:26. > :22:27.
:22:27. > :22:31.people call home. Having spent so much time with the Aldi -- Aviation
:22:32. > :22:37.Club, I realise that despite losing so much, they have not lost
:22:37. > :22:43.everything. They cannot escape the violence in their lives, but they
:22:43. > :22:49.will not better define them. TRANSLATION: When I am flying in
:22:49. > :22:56.the sky, it feels like my family are down below looking up at me,
:22:56. > :23:02.seeing me as a shining star. It gives you an emotional high. Do you
:23:02. > :23:07.find this attractive in a man when you see him fly? Very manly.You
:23:07. > :23:15.like it in a man? TRANSLATION: It has taught me the love of giving to
:23:16. > :23:24.other people. Some rare qualities, like courage and loyalty. In the
:23:24. > :23:28.Flying Club, we are all one family. TRANSLATION: It has taught me
:23:28. > :23:33.independence and self confidence without arrogance. There is a big
:23:33. > :23:37.difference between the two. Berigan skills you, last of -- self
:23:37. > :23:46.confidence motivates you and me to a better person. TRANSLATION: This
:23:46. > :23:52.is a sport that makes men. It is damaged now? You're OK? Doubt there
:23:53. > :24:02.you forget everything. Everything side, everything violent. All your
:24:03. > :24:04.
:24:04. > :24:10.mind is on the flying. You feel you're free. It is for only the
:24:10. > :24:20.boy's turn. His brother makes a few last-minute safety checks. He is
:24:20. > :24:51.
:24:51. > :24:56.not worried. Are you ready? Yes. Ten may feel like a world away. It