<a href=www.thestar.com target=_blank>Toronto Star: With a long black abiya gown stretching shapelessly down to her ankles, there is little to suggest Nasreem Sothba walks the streets in search of men. But when glances linger a fraction longer than usual, Sothba, 22, does something that hasn't been seen in the Iraqi capital in years. She hikes the gown to just below the knee, flashing bright floral leggings and the tiniest glimpse of calf. Smiling through lips painted pale pink, Sothba's subtle message is clear now: Sex for hire. The world's oldest profession is hardly unknown in the lands that gave rise to the world's earliest civilization. But in the latter years of Baathist rule, Iraqi prostitutes were subject to pogroms ordered by Saddam Hussein.