In Iraq .. Palaces and presidential complexes between sale and confiscation without investment

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In Iraq .. Palaces and presidential complexes between sale and confiscation without investment


In 2016, the Iraqi government offered to sell more than a thousand palaces from the palaces of former dictator Saddam Hussein in order to provide revenues to fill the budget deficit, and then announced the sources of those shortcomings, which includes sites very important, without being invested and fill part of the fiscal deficit that Suffering from the country.

Two hundred of these palaces are located inside the capital, most of which have been turned into government and partisan headquarters and other housing for the ruling Iraqi political elites currently and a number of embassies, noting that these palaces are registered in the name of the Iraqi Ministry of Finance and not the name of Saddam Hussein.

Last month, the Justice and Accountability Commission issued two decisions, including the confiscation of movable and immovable property for 52 members of the former regime, and the seizure of property of 4257 officials during Saddam Hussein's rule.

The confiscation of the property and the property of Saddam Hussein's regime officials have begun, and urgent action has been taken by the banks and real estate services to prevent the disposal of money and property in any form. Forms, in accordance with the decisions of the recent accountability and justice. "

"Some senior officials continue to take over most of Saddam Hussein's palaces and his family and close associates, which are divided between the government green zone, Hay al-Harthiya and Qadissiya on the Karkh side of Baghdad, and the neighborhoods of Karrada, Arasat and Jadriya in the Rusafa district of the Iraqi capital.

"Most of the properties mentioned in these resolutions have been sold for years, and they are covered by the confiscation and seizure order," said lawyer Ahmed al-Muhanna. "The recent decisions of the accountability and justice committee have caused great confusion in the popular circles and have affected the lives of quite a few Iraqis. Caused a heavy loss to a large segment, damaged without committing any sin.

For its part, the Economic Committee of the Iraqi parliament announced plans to invest presidential palaces (Saddam's palaces) through rounds of licenses similar to oil licenses, and estimated the investment sites across Iraq at a thousand sites, divided between palaces and resorts and presidential complexes luxurious, and spread from the north of the country to The banks of the Shatt al-Arab in the south.

In its declaration, the Committee stated that the statistics confirm that in Tikrit alone there are 136 palaces designed by local and foreign architects, some of which are considered in terms of design, luxury and the vast space on which they were constructed, not to mention security measures rarely applied in other countries such as walls against heavy weapons, The rare marble.

Salah al-Din Salah al-Din al-Dujaili, a member of the provincial council of Salah al-Din, said: "The presidential palaces in Tikrit can be exploited in the field of tourism to generate large sums of money for the province, especially as it includes two very important sites. The Green Church is the oldest church in the Middle East and the house where Salah al-Din was born. Many tourists wish to visit to see how Saddam lived in that historic era and in the end provide dozens of jobs for the people of the city.

For his part, Director General of Real Estate Department Ahmed Al-Rubaie said that "the State Real Estate Department in coordination with the Higher Committee formed in the Secretariat General of the Council of Ministers and the Investment Authority is working to make maximum use of presidential palaces.

Al-Rubaie reveals the allocation of the Radwaniyah Palace and the surrounding area for the purpose of establishing the American University building and establishing strategic projects to benefit from this site through investment methods.

Al-Rubaie pointed out that "the committees are working to enumerate the palaces in Anbar, Ninewa and Salahuddin provinces, in order to complete the inventory and submit it to the Presidential Palaces Committee in the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers and take the necessary action to dispose of them.

Observers benefit from the delay in dealing with the file of property of the former regime and not to invest and contribute to the financial deficit suffered by Iraq due to the decline in international oil prices.

The future of the palaces is still unknown. It is completely neglected by the circles concerned with heritage and history, although there are some voices calling for its conversion into museums for the time Saddam Hussein ruled the country.



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