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Hijab Hiltons and Dawah-land? I’m not quite sure how Mickey Mouse feels about this:
[Humoud] Yakobi, the chairman of Iraq’s Board of Tourism, is charged with attracting foreign visitors to his beleaguered country. Jazirat A’aras, an island in the Tigris that is just across from the fortified Green Zone and the new American Embassy, is central to his plans. He is seeking investors who might want to spend $2.5 billion to $4.5 billion to build on the island, which was a honeymoon resort before it was bombed and looted in 2003 and then taken over by the Americans for use as a construction yard for the new embassy.
As Yakobi and his colleagues envision it, the development would include “a six-star hotel,” spas, a yacht club, an amusement park, a shopping center and luxury villas, built in the architectural style of the Ottoman Empire-era buildings in Old Baghdad. The complex would also have an 18-hole golf course, the “Tigris Woods Golf and Country Club,” as it is called in preliminary sketches prepared by the Tourism Board.
Some might argue that Yakobi’s vision is premature, if not absurd. Despite a drop in violence in Baghdad in recent months, Yakobi still cannot leave his office on Haifa Street without a convoy of armored cars and bodyguards. During an hourlong interview at his office recently, the lights blinked off, then on again, as the building’s generator kicked in, an event repeated many times a day throughout Iraq. It was not so long ago that American forces sometimes had to escort the workers at the Tourism Board home, shielding them from the firefights in the street.
Cue Aerosmith’s “Dream On”.
And from atlastours.net regarding Iraq tourist information:
Entry Requirements
A valid passport and a visa are required to enter Iraq. Visas are delivered by Iraqi diplomatic missions abroad.
Iraq has always known the freedom of money transfer, permitting any person to bring in or take out any capital of his/her choice at any time without restriction.
Note: No Israeli stamp or any crossing point with Israel stamp should be on your passport this includes Araba border, Sheikh Hussein border, Rafah border, and Taba border.
Damn. I guess I won’t be visiting Iraq again any time soon.
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