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World Routes: Kershaw in Iraq DISC ONE At the end of the Gulf War, Saddam Hussein turned to music to help turn his country around, setting up new music radio and TV stations, establishing youth clubs for training in music, and generously supporting the best performers. Ten years on, many of the leading musicians of the Arab world are from Iraq. Yet some Iraqi musicians have been persecuted, even executed, and many live in exile. In two programmes, Andy Kershaw explores Iraq and its music, talking to performers of Iraq's celebrated classical tradition, and encountering the wilder sounds of Iraq's little-known gypsy community. World Routes: Kershaw in Iraq DISC TWO In two programmes, Andy Kershaw explores Iraq and its music, talking to performers of Iraq's celebrated classical tradition, and encountering the wilder sounds of Iraq's little-known gypsy community. In his second encounter with Iraq and its musicians, Andy Kershaw meets one of Iraq's top performers, now a famous name throughout the Arab world. Ilham Al-Madfai was born in Baghdad, became a star singer in the 1970s, but left Iraq when Saddam Hussein came to power in 1979. However, at the start of the Gulf War in 1991, he returned to Iraq, and to become a national hero. He now lives in Jordan's capital, Amman.

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