Residence fit for a king of kings

By CAHAL MILMO

Saddam Hussein, like Shelley's Ozymandias, the supreme ruler of ancient Egypt - as Rameses II - liked to crown his victories with the construction of monolithic edifices to stare out over the battlefield.

They are the echoing monuments to Iraq's own crumbling pharaoh.

My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings, Look on my works ye Mighty and despair!

No thing beside remains. Round the decay, Of that Colossal Wreck, boundless and bare, The lone and level sands stretch far away ...

The doors of some of Saddam's palaces, built on the proceeds of his country's oil wealth while his people relied on United Nations handouts, were thrown open this week in the chaos of the war to unseat him.

A phalanx of US soldiers burst through the carved mahogany entrance to the New Presidential Palace in central Baghdad, with its sweeping views of the Tigris River and hectares of marble flooring.

Until four weeks ago, the inner circle of Saddam's regime may have sat here discussing their next move to stave off invasion across the desert wastes. On Monday, a group of grimy GIs was installed amid the gilt furnishings and comfy armchairs in preparation for the complete takeover of Saddam's capital.

One soldier suggested he would be having his "first shower in weeks" in the remains of one of the bathrooms where water was still running.

In a nearby room, US Army Sergeant Chad Touchett sat back in a faux antique drawing room chair drawing deeply on a cigarette, surrounded by five compadres from Company A.

The palace had not even been defended by the Special Republican Guard, the elite force handed the task of guarding the Iraqi leader's "inner cordon". Instead, a confused group of Syrian mercenaries had given it up with minimal resistance - one was hiding in the walk-in fridge - when confronted by 70 American tanks and 60 armoured personnel carriers.

Underlining the sense among the members of the US 3rd Infantry Regiment that their occupation of the enemy's lair was a symbolic victory, Captain Chris Carter, of Watkinsville, Georgia, said: "I do believe this city is freakin' ours."

Their arrival demonstrated that not only was the Iraqi leader's power rapidly waning but also its trappings - ostentatiously amassed at an estimated cost of $4.3 billion in the past 12 years alone and as outrageous in their boundless ambition as the man who commissioned them - were liable for summary confiscation by the US Government.

Three thousand years after Rameses II, Iraq's King of Kings busied himself since his "triumph" in the 1991 Gulf War by building at least 48 People's Palaces, forbidden to his people by guns and 9m walls.

The New Presidential Palace, a confection of sand-coloured brick topped with a glittering blue-and-gold dome of ceramic tiles, was completed last year to stand close to the HQ for the pillar of Saddam's Iraq, the Ba'ath Party.

Of the original four floors of the palace, only two were left intact after repeated targeting by American and British aircraft. Parts of the remaining first floor and basement were flooded.

But inside, the accoutrements of a regime hooked on glitz and grandeur remained intact: Imitation French baroque furniture covered in dust, several TVs in each room, a rooftop pool and, of course, the decor essential for every maniacal despot from Hitler to Nicolae Ceaucescu, a marble bathroom with 24-carat gold taps. Outside, among lush plantings is the ultimate symbol of the American good life - Saddam's barbecue.

For the US soldiers leading the incursion into the heart of Baghdad, it was an opportunity to perform the rite of war that accompanies the final days of an autocrat grown fat while his people dwindle - the vicarious thrill of rifling through a dictator's intimate possessions.

The troops leafed through documents and thick vellum stationery, before helping themselves to souvenirs of ashtrays, duck-down pillows and gold-painted glassware. It was the equivalent of turning out Imelda Marcos' shoeboxes or rummaging under Idi Amin's bed.

Here was a monument to Saddam's wastefulness.

The palaces are not only homes but military strongholds of the man who considers himself a latter-day Saladin, vanquisher of the crusader armies and leader of all Arabs.

The jewel is the Republican Palace in Baghdad, consisting of more than 700 buildings including Saddam's private offices, the headquarters of the Special Security Force and a bunker designed to withstand a nuclear attack.

Saddam's palaces

* The total area covered by Saddam's palaces across Iraq is 30.5sq km - a third of which is covered in artificial lakes in which the Iraqi leader likes to fish.

* At least 48 of the structures - which boast opulent interiors - have been built since the end of the 1991 Gulf War at a cost of $4.3 billion.

* According to the Americans, the money was siphoned from the proceeds of oil smuggling and the resale of World Food Programme rations.

- INDEPENDENT

Herald Feature: Iraq war