BABIL, Iraq — Sarmad Blaibel, a young reporter who works for the local news station, went to a bridge in the city of Babil to hang a love padlock and throw the key into the river as an expression of love for his sweetheart. This act resembles the well-established tradition in France, for instance, where railings of the Pont Des Arts bridge, overlooking the Seine, have been damaged by the increasing weight of love padlocks.

Blaibel, who covers news of the fighting in the city of Jurf Al-Sakhar, inspired other young people to follow suit. Young couples turned one of the bridges in the city of Hilla, in the center of the province of Babil, into a place of pilgrimage for sweethearts, who put love padlocks on the bridge and threw the keys into the Euphrates River.

Blaibel encourages placing love padlocks on the bridge, and said in an interview with Al-Monitor, “We do not want the Iraqi citizen to lag behind modern and contemporary societies.”

“This activity and other events that we organize daily in the city of Babil represent our strong inclination toward continuous development. Our activities are an expression of freedom and an objection to any brutality that tries to kill human talents,” he said.