Al Rasheed Hotel
| Al Rasheed Hotel | |
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| Location in Baghdad | |
| Location | Baghdad, Iraq |
| Coordinates | 33°18′58″N 44°23′21″E / 33.31611°N 44.38917°E |
| Floors | 18 |
Hotel Al-Rasheed (sometimes spelled Al-Rashid) (Arabic,فندق الرشيد) is an 18-story hotel in Baghdad, Iraq, favored by journalists and media personnel. It is named for Harun Al-Rashid.
In 1982, in the midst of the Iran-Iraq War, in an attempt to show the world that Iraq was stable and safe, Saddam Hussein was planning to host the international Non-Aligned Movement Conference in the hotel. Legendary Iranian general and fighter pilot ace Abbas Doran led a large air attack on Baghdad to prove Saddam wrong, and hit military targets all over the city. When his F-4 Phantom fighter plane was badly hit, rather than ejecting and being taken prisoner (or possibly murdered), he crashed his fighter jet into the building, badly damaging it. The conference was hosted that year in New Delhi rather than Baghdad, and Doran is revered today as a legendary pilot and martyr in Iran.
It gained worldwide fame during the 1991 Persian Gulf War when CNN conducted their newscasts from the hotel, propelling the network's senior war correspondent Peter Arnett to the apex of journalism fame. Between the Persian Gulf War and the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the building was the main housing facility for Western businessmen and diplomats, as well as foreign press.
After the invasion, the hotel was converted into a base for the Coalition and the American military. On October 26, 2003 twenty-eight 68 mm and 85 mm Katyusha rockets were fired at and struck the hotel, killing Lieutenant Colonel Charles H. Buehring and injuring 17 others. An additional 12 rockets failed to fire and remained in their tubes in the improvised launcher which was located less than 250 meters from the hotel. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz was staying in the hotel the night of the attack but was unhurt while author and Department of Labor official Craig Davis was injured. [1]
A tile mosaic depicting U.S. President George H.W. Bush with a look of astonishment on his face was installed on the floor of the lobby after the Persian Gulf War. This was intended to force any visitors to walk over his face to enter the hotel (a serious insult in Arab culture). The mosaic was smashed by U.S. soldiers after the invasion, who replaced it with one of Saddam Hussein.[2][dead link]
Before the 2003 invasion of Iraq the hotel housed a shopping centre. The shops offered handmade items, souvenirs, carpets and jewellery shops. The hotel also housed an internet cafe in 2002. From 2005 through 2006 when a U.S. military Dining Facility (DFAC) was located in its lobby restaurant, the shops did a brisk business with American servicemembers. As of 2009, the shops and the internet cafe have returned, as well as a cafe. The hotel hosts meetings for economic development. Its position astride the International Zone ("Green Zone") boundary allows relative ease for meetings that can be attended by Iraqis residing outside the International Zone.
The hotel was renovated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with the help of local manpower and renovations were completed in 2008.[3]
[edit] Gallery
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Hotel Al Rasheed lobby
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Hotel Al Rasheed lobby
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2005/06/intlrpt.htm "Reinserting labor into the Iraqi Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs" Monthly Labor Review Online - International Report June 2005, Vol. 128, No. 6]
- ^ http://www.wtlv.com/news/waronterror/news-article.aspx?storyid=2806
- ^ http://www.grd.usace.army.mil/news/Essayonsforward/documents/EF_V5N4.pdf Renovation of the hotel
