www.bbc.co.uk US troops have moved out of a complex of palaces that once belonged to Saddam Hussein, which Iraqi officials hope to turn into a tourist destination.
The complex, just outside the former leader's hometown of Tikrit in northern Iraq, has 136 buildings and 18 palaces.
"This place is the symbol of how one man spent Iraq's wealth. Now is the time to return it to the people," US Major General Joseph Taluto said.
Local officials say the complex will be turned into a tourist or leisure park.
"First we shall open the gates to allow the people to see the palaces," Salahuddin Governor Hamid Humud Shikti told the AFP news agency.
Then "as a temporary measure I shall move my office here, along with those of the police chief", he said.
The complex served as headquarters to the 42nd Infantry Division, responsible for military operations in north-central Iraq.
Similar to a large village resort and overlooking the Tigris river, it was built soon after the end of the 1991 Gulf War.
One structure is built on a large pond and has water running under it. Another resembles a small Chinese tea pavilion on a reflecting pool.
Many of the palaces have grand marble staircases, huge carved wooden doors and vast rooms with ceilings covered in stucco or coloured arabesque designs.
However, departing US troops say the marble masks shoddy brickwork and failing plumbing. Tiles regularly fall from ceilings where massive chandeliers hang.
Maj Gen Taluto said US troops had maintained the buildings, but they were "not the greatest of constructions".
The main palace was damaged by bombing at the start of the US-led invasion in March 2003 and never repaired. |