Baghdad gets make-over as repairs kindle guarded optimism

Iraqi residents walk along Mutanabbi Street in Baghdad, Iraq, May 14, 2023. The government has kicked off the largest effort to refurbish Baghdad since the 2003 U.S invasion, including renovating the facades of buildings damaged by war and revamping parks and promenades that hug the Tigris River that bisects the city. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad

Living in Baghdad's sprawling Sadr City suburb for the past 15 years, Khodr Abbas, 73, had to walk along a mud and dirt track to get to his home, where he would struggle to get fresh water to flow and waste-water to flush through rickety pipes.

That finally changed last month.