The post said so many night people have made the move that a 'nightlife boom' is happening in the Kurdish area, while in Baghdad gunmen and religious police terrorise those remaining.

"Baghdad has become a dead city where there is no more amusement, no drinks and no music," exiled drummer Hameed Saleh told the Post, "They have dressed the capital in religious clothes."

Meanwhile in Saudi Arabia, government officials cautiously stepped up their campaign to invite non Muslim Western tourists to visit the desert region in an attempt to boost employment opportunities in the notoriously strict kingdom.

Regional newspaper the Media Line said Red Coast resort Jeddah already boast numerous four and five star hotels where Saudis are excluded, where foreign guests can sunbathe and swim without restrictions, though said sentiments remain ambiguous.

"When you see what is happening in Dubai, I think it is understandable that Saudis rather do without foreign tourists," a Jeddah tourist agency manager told The Media Line."