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Posted: 1/10/2005 4:10:54 AM EDT
Things must be looking up in Iraq!
 By Caroline Hawley BBC correspondent in Baghdad You might think he would be starting to despair by now. But the head of Iraq's tourism board, Ahmed al-Jabouri, is a confident man. Al-Malwiyya in Samarra was a top tourist spot before the war He insists he has a "happy heart" when he thinks about the tourism potential of a country that, while one of the most dangerous places in world, prides itself on being the cradle of civilisation. No matter that he is not aware of a single foreign tourist visiting Iraq in 2004. He himself advises them to stay away right now. "It's very important for me, for their own safety that they don't come," he says. Still, his 2,474 staff are keeping themselves busy. The tourism board says it has 14 centres open around the country from Basra in the south, to Saddam Hussein's hometown Tikrit, to Mosul - where insurgents recently took over the city's police stations. There's even an office in Ramadi, despite regular fighting between American troops and rebels. "My staff check on hotels and restaurants and award licenses," says Mr Jabouri, a former army officer and dissident who fled from Baghdad to Kurdistan under Saddam Hussein. Big plans So will 2005 be any better than 2004? Again, Mr Jabouri is optimistic. "We have a plan to build many things," he says. "We have many projects." Among them, he says, is a plan to develop an area of Baghdad along the river Tigris into a "new tourism city". The district, Wedding Island, is said to have been a popular night-time spot for Saddam Hussein's son, Uday, and it is where he shot dead his father's bodyguard Kamel Hanna in 1989. Mr Jabouri says Iraqi companies are already working on the new project. The ancient ruins of Babylon - another of Iraq's treasured sites "We have many nice places," he told the BBC. "We have mountains and marshes and historical sites." Right now, however, the ancient ruins of Bablyon, south of Baghdad, are part of a military base. So too are the most impressive remains of the Sumerian people, who invented writing, before the Pharaohs came to power. The Ziggarat of Ur, a vast temple complex near the modern town of Nasiriya, lies deep within a fortified camp. And Lake Habbaniya, which used to be a popular picnic site for Iraqis, is now a refugee camp for people displaced from nearby Fallujah. Ahmad Jabouri acknowledges that at the moment a visit could very well be a "one way trip" for any Westerner. "It is very dangerous for our friends to come now," he says. "I advise them to be patient and wait for a short time." And he acknowledges he has no idea when Iraq will be able to give tourists the hospitable welcome he would like to provide. "I cannot give you a promise," he says, "when things will be safe." news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4111369.stm ANdy |
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Posted: 1/10/2005 4:22:18 AM EDT
[#1]
Yes indeed , just a place where I would want to take the wife and kids .
See lands where everyone is forced to run around with rifles. Remember to take your camera everywhere, in case a suicide bomber kills a bus load of passengers. While eating at those outside café's nothing stimulates the appetite more than the thought that this could indeed be your last meal. Get lost while there -- not a problem, the PALS will show you the way back to safe zones by throwing stones at your head. I'm just waiting for a special...................deal. |
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Posted: 1/10/2005 5:33:18 AM EDT
[#2]
Aw, c'mon!
It would make a great 'Adventure Holiday'!  ANdy |
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Posted: 1/10/2005 5:46:20 AM EDT
[#3]
For all the armchair warriors who's been prepping for TEOTWAWKI, it will be a great testing ground. See how your IPSC trainings stack up against armed insurgents. Live out your post-apocalypse road warrior fantasy, with live ammo!
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Posted: 1/10/2005 8:55:50 PM EDT
[#4]
"Canned hunts" for hadjis!
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Posted: 1/10/2005 8:58:05 PM EDT
[#5]
 Count me in for a 2 day.
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Posted: 1/10/2005 8:58:52 PM EDT
[#6]
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Posted: 1/10/2005 8:59:11 PM EDT
[#7]
Whats the starting price on these hunts.
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Posted: 1/10/2005 8:59:57 PM EDT
[#8]
So much history in that land!
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Posted: 1/10/2005 9:01:30 PM EDT
[#9]
National Lampoon's "Baghdad Vacation".
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Posted: 1/10/2005 9:18:57 PM EDT
[#10]
Are they kidding? I hope to God that they are not using our tax dollars on that...
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Posted: 1/10/2005 10:17:30 PM EDT
[#11]
They have to start somewhere. There are some people over there who are working damned hard to build a functioning nation in the midst of chaos. The members of this site, as pro-war as most are, should really be supporting this rather than ridiculing it. |
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Posted: 1/10/2005 10:28:06 PM EDT
[#12]
It's supposedly a beautiful country - maybe one one these days....
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Posted: 1/10/2005 10:39:53 PM EDT
[#13]
I got an idea !
They should stuff saddam in a little cage, and let people poke him with pointy sticks, for a couple bucks a pop ! It'd rake in the loot !
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