As-Salam Palace (Baghdad, Iraq)

Coordinates: 33°18′03″N 44°21′41″E / 33.30084800°N 44.36133400°E / 33.30084800; 44.36133400

The as-Salam Palace, previously a home of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, is now the National Guard's HQ.

2007 photo of the palace during a coalition forces American football game.

History

As-Salam Palace was taken over by US coalition forces during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The palace was significantly damaged during the "Shock and Awe" campaign, when it sustained several airstrike attacks.^{[citation needed]} It is headquarters for the Joint Area Support Group, and currently under command of The JASG-C, 32nd IBCT, Wisconsin Army National Guard. It has been known to coalition forces as "Camp Prosperity" and "Forward Operating Base Prosperity."

Layout and amenities

The palace has 200 rooms with approximately 1,000,000 square feet (93,000 m²) floor space. There are six floors, three of which are usable (others serve as 'false floors'); two large ball rooms. The palace is internally lined with marble floors with hundreds of thousands of hand-cut pieces, granite walls, and ceilings that also have hundreds of thousands of hand-carved and inlaid hand-painted flowers.

The palace is also surrounded by a sequence of square tiles bearing the initials of Saddam Hussein (S & H); the letters in Arabic are called "Saad" & "Haa." These tiles are obvious on the top side of the palace building. Iraqi's report that the palace dome used to have a life-sized statue of Saddam. This can be seen in photos of the place up to 2003.

The fireplaces, placed around the lake in front of the palace, are actually fresh air vents used to provide fresh air to the bunkers below the lake. These bunkers are now inaccessible, having been flooded and sealed off by the coalition.

In the basement of the palace is an entry to one of many concrete tunnels lying beneath the city of Baghdad. These tunnels are also ventilated and provide access to other palaces, governmental facilities and Baghdad International Airport.

From April 2009 to January 2010, FOB Prosperity was ran by JASG-C 32d IBCT from Wisconsin.

External links

• Simplified schematic map of the surrounding area
• 2000 satellite photo at the Federation of American Scientists web site
• Saddam has left the building article in the St. Petersburg Times with description and photos

This article about a palace is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · Categories: Palaces in Iraq Official residences in Iraq Presidential palaces Baghdad stubs Iraqi building and structure stubs Palace stubs Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат? As-Salam College of Engineering & Technology As-Salih Ismail Look at other dictionaries: Al Salam Palace (Baghdad, Iraq) — coord|33.30084800|44.36133400 The al Salam Palace was previously a home of Iraqi President s Saddam Hussein National Guard s HQ. HistoryNow it has been taken over by US coalition forces during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. It has been known as Camp… …   Wikipedia Iraq — /i rak , i rahk /, n. a republic in SW Asia, N of Saudi Arabia and W of Iran, centering in the Tigris Euphrates basin of Mesopotamia. 22,219,289; 172,000 sq. mi. (445,480 sq. km). Cap.: Baghdad. Also, Irak. * * * Iraq Introduction Iraq Background …   Universalium Iraq — For other uses, see Iraq (disambiguation). Republic of Iraq جمهورية العراق (Arabic) …   Wikipedia Baghdad — Infobox Settlement official name = Baghdad native name = بغداد nickname = imagesize = 300px image caption = General view of the north western part of Baghdad city across the Tigris, 2006. image mapsize = 300px map caption = The location of… …   Wikipedia Baghdad — /bag dad, beuhg dad /, n. a city in and the capital of Iraq, in the central part, on the Tigris. 2,800,000. Also, Bagdad. * * * or Bagdad City (pop., 1999 est.: metro. area, 4,689,000), capital of Iraq. Located on the Tigris River, the site has… …   Universalium History of Iraq — This article includes an overview from prehistory to the present in the region of the current state of Iraq in Mesopotamia. (See also Mesopotamia, Ancient Near East, and History of the Middle East.)Ancient MesopotamiaThe Tigris and Euphrates… …   Wikipedia Guerre d'Irak —  Cet article concerne la troisième guerre du Golfe. Pour les précédentes, voir Guerre du Golfe. Guerre d Irak Dans le sens des aiguilles d une montre en commençant en haut à gauche : une patrouille à Samarra ; le renversement de la …   Wikipédia en Français literature — /lit euhr euh cheuhr, choor , li treuh /, n. 1. writings in which expression and form, in connection with ideas of permanent and universal interest, are characteristic or essential features, as poetry, novels, history, biography, and essays. 2.… …   Universalium Abd al-Karim Qasim — 47th Prime Minister of Iraq 1st Prime Minister of the Republic of Iraq In office 14 July 1958 – 8 February 1963 Succeeded by …   Wikipedia ARAB WORLD, 1945–2006 — The Arab world is divided into four subregions: the Maghreb (morocco , tunisia , algeria , libya , Mauritania), the Nile Valley (egypt and Sudan), the Fertile Crescent (syria , lebanon , iraq , jordan , and the palestinian authority ), and the… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism 18+ © Academic, 2000-2024 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”