Breakdown in Baghdad

BAGHDAD — Ali Sadiq knew he needed to take his Mercedes to a mechanic to get it running again. But it wasn't just the expense that prevented him from taking his car to an auto-repair shop.

Sadiq is a Shiite. Most of the mechanics qualified to work on either German- or American-manufactured vehicles are Sunnis whose shops are located in Sheikh Omar, a Sunni-controlled area.

"No other mechanics can fix the problem," Sadiq said.

And there was no way Sadiq was going to risk traveling into that hotbed of anti-Shia sentiment. So for now, the Mercedes sits motionless near Sadiq's home.

Auto repairs are just one of the scores of small businesses that have been affected as the Iraqi capital grows more divided along sectarian lines. Shias no longer dare to frequent Sunni small businesses and vice versa.

Mohammed Abdulqadir, 43, a Sunni mechanic who specializes in Mercedeses, complains that his business has suffered because of the increasingly sectarian nature of Iraq society.

He said his former customers have been scared off from bringing their cars to his shop because Mercedes is a popular target among insurgents, who suspect the vehicle owners may be government officials.

Meanwhile, Sunnis in need of repairs for their Korean-made vehicles — the most popular in Iraq — are similarly out of luck. Most of the mechanics qualified to service such cars are located in the al-Baya district, an industrial area where no Sunni dares to tread.

Mohammad Khalid, a 35-year-old Shia mechanic, said Sunnis have good reason to avoid the area.

Khalid said he lost three brothers to sectarian violence before Shia militias took over the area by force after the bombing of the Askariya shrine in Samarra in 2006.

"The Samara bombing was a savior for us," Khalid said. "The insurgents back then were powerful, and no one was confronting them. They were controlling this area, and the (local) Sunni were supporting them. Now they have to pay the price."

And auto-repair-shop owners say it is becoming increasingly difficult to hire mechanics in the segregated capital.

Ziad Sa'd, a 40-year-old Sunni, was forced to shut down his auto-repair shop when he was no longer able to attract qualified employees.

Abdullah al-Lami, a spokesman for the Ministry of Labor, described the situation as a "disaster."

"The security situation has severely affected skilled workers in Baghdad," he said. "Many businesses have been forced to close down."

So for now at least, those with disabled vehicles must wait until they can find a mechanic who happens to be a member of their own sect before they can hope to get back on the road.

Tiare Rath is the Middle East editor for The Institute for War & Peace Reporting, a nonprofit organization that trains journalists in areas of conflict.