Posted on 05/13/2002 2:15:54 AM PDT by AdrianZ
Saddam adorns palaces with gold
Publisher: Iraq Press (London)
Posted: 2002-05-13
Sulaimaniya Three of President Saddam Husseins palaces have been refurbished with at least 250 kilograms of pure gold recently, an informed source said.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source said the gold renovation lasted six months and has so far touched three of Saddams palaces in the outskirts of Baghdad. Saddam spends lavishly on the building of palaces. They are equipped with marble floors, Persian rugs and gold taps as well as swimming pools and luxurious household equipment.
Officially, Saddam has 34 palaces across the country but more are being built in Baghdad and other provinces. U.S. intelligence sources say the construction of palaces must have cost Iraqs cash-strapped coffers billions of dollars.
The source said artisans from India and Morocco were employed to handle the gold. The palaces, he added, were now adorned with verses from the Muslim holy book, the Koran, written in gold.
Chandeliers of Czech origin were imported recently for the palaces. Saddam is reported to have ordered the inscription in gold of lines of poetry which laud his deeds on walls and facades of buildings.
One of the palaces, called al-Nakhwa, which was destroyed in the 1991 Gulf War, has been rebuilt and substantially expanded. It now has four colossal entrances decorated with gold and silver designs.
Meantime, Saddams engineers have embarked on the construction of a new palace for his elder son, Udai, at Rashidiya in suburban Baghdad.
They're getting what they deserve.
Gives new added meaning to "Target Rich Environment"!!!
THAT would have the Iraqis and the rest of the Muslim world scratching their heads...............
--Boris
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