Sharjah24 - AFP: Scattered across Iraq lie more than 100 opulent palaces and villas built by former dictator Saddam Hussein -- some in use, many in ruins like much of the war-scarred country.
With their marble columns, ornate carvings and gaudy furniture, they reflected the megalomania and delusions of grandeur of Saddam, who visited some of them only once or twice.
In his Babylon residence, the feared strongman's profile is engraved in bas-relief like that of the Mesopotamian emperor he idolised, Chaldean dynasty king Nebuchadnezzar II.
In many places, the initials "S.H." are still visible as reminders of the despot who was toppled by the 2003 US-led invasion, captured later that year and executed in 2006.
Most of his palaces were looted during the chaos of the invasion, when thieves scavenged all they could carry, even ripping electric cables out of walls.
Since then, only a handful of the palatial residences have been given a second lease of life, often as military bases or public administrations, more rarely as museums.
Most lie empty, in part because the cost of renovating them is prohibitive.
"We can turn palaces into museums, at least in Baghdad -- a tapestry museum, for example, or on the royal family or Islamic art," said Laith Majid Hussein, director of the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage.
But he conceded that rehabilitating many of Iraq's "gigantic castles" would require "astronomical sums".
Red tape and entrenched graft spell other hurdles, said a senior government official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"Bureaucracy and corruption hinder the restoration of these palaces to turn them into tourist complexes or heritage centres," he said.
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