BAGHDAD - They say they could have opted for Dubai, Saudi Arabia or even Europe. But Baghdad is the destination of choice for a rising number of foreign workers, a jarring sight in a city where, not long ago, they were unlikely to keep their freedom or lives long enough to collect a paycheck.

"Sometimes I hear loud booms, but I don't care," said Zahandwir Aloui, a 25-year-old waiter with a wife and two children at home in Bangladesh. "I like working here."

Recently he was clearing dishes at the upscale restaurant where he works, one of scores of better restaurants, homes and hotels where the waiters, cooks, clerks, housekeepers and attendants are increasingly likely to be from India, Uganda, Bangladesh, Nepal and Ethiopia.