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الأوسمة :   المشاركات : 23365  نقاط : 210757  التقييم : 15 العمر : 81
 |  موضوع: Feb. 02, 2017 Mosul hotel catered to elites: from Saddam allies to suicide bombers  الجمعة 3 فبراير 2017 - 18:32 | |
| Feb. 02, 2017 | | |
Mosul hotel catered to elites: from Saddam allies to suicide bombers
- اقتباس :
A destroyed mural in the five-star Ninewah Oberoi Hotel in Mosul city, Mosul, Iraq January 30, 2017. Picture taken January 30, 2017. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah
The Iraqi army’s recent capture of the ruined compound – renamed Hotel Waritheen (Inheritors) by Islamic State – deprived the militants of a strategic site that offers a comprehensive view across the vast city.
 An Iraqi soldier walks with his weapon in front of the damaged five-star Ninewah Oberoi Hotel in Mosul city, Mosul, Iraq January 30, 2017. Picture taken January 30, 2017. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah
The compound, with its abandoned playground and ferris wheel, lies within striking distance of Islamic State snipers and mortar bomb operators, dug in just across the Tigris River, which once soothed hotel guests standing on balconies.
 General view of the damaged five-star Ninewah Oberoi Hotel damaged in Mosul city, Mosul, Iraq January 30, 2017. Picture taken January 30, 2017. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah
Curtains are peppered with bullet holes, the work of Islamic State marksmen. Iraqi security officials say the most lethal ones are foreign fighters, the kind that were put up in the hotel as a reward for their services.
 General view of the damaged swimming pool in the five-star Ninewah Oberoi Hotel next to the Tigris river in Mosul, Iraq January 30, 2017. Picture taken January 30, 2017. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah
One of Saddam’s former palaces, located on an island on the Tigris, was demolished in recent fighting. Another one nearby suffered a similar fate.
 The entrance of the health club in the damaged five-star Ninewah Oberoi Hotel in Mosul city, Mosul, Iraq January 30, 2017. Picture taken January 30, 2017. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah
Islamic State grabbed the hotel after it swept into Mosul in 2014, facing virtually no resistance from Iraqi troops, and imposed a reign of terror.
A jihadi website showed militants with their wives, covered from head to toe in black, and children at the hotel, once described on the internet as “elegantly designed to offer comprehensive 5 star services”.
 An Iraqi Soldier wears slippers of the five-star Ninewah Oberoi Hotel in Mosul city, Mosul, Iraq January 30, 2017. Picture taken January 30, 2017. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah
Old photographs on internet advertisements show elegant suites with king-sized beds, conference rooms, a sprawling swimming pool, shopping arcade and bowling alley, in sharp contrast to the current destruction.
A rocket-propelled grenade and broken glass clutter the entrance to the health club, where the sauna and jacuzzi lie in ruins.
 A damaged bathtub in the five-star Ninewah Oberoi Hotel in Mosul city, Mosul, Iraq January 30, 2017. Picture taken January 30, 2107. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah
“Conferences were held on that floor. The Daesh leadership must have held meetings there to discuss strategy,” he said, using the derogatory acronym favored by opponents to describe Islamic State.
Islamic State had its own price list for the hotel restaurant and coffee shop displayed on simple plastic menus. Cappuccino sold for the equivalent of about $1.
 An Iraqi soldier walks in the damaged room in the five-star Ninewah Oberoi Hotel in Mosul city, Mosul, Iraq January 30, 2017. Picture taken January 30, 2017. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah
Islamic State leaders, for their part, did their best to keep up morale, judging by a copy of their local propaganda newspaper left behind at the hotel. Front page headlines claim operations killed hundreds of Iraqi troops.
 Iraqi soldiers walk along the damaged floors in the five-star Ninewah Oberoi Hotel in Mosul city, Mosul, Iraq January 30, 2017. Picture taken January 30, 2017. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah
There are no signs the hotel will be revived anytime soon, with fierce fighting expected in west Mosul.
Even if Islamic State is defeated in all of Mosul, the group is expected to stage an insurgency in Iraq, a country that has suffered from dictatorships, wars and sectarian violence that have ruined many ventures like the hotel.
 An Iraqi soldier stands in a damaged room in the five-star Ninewah Oberoi Hotel in Mosul city, Mosul, Iraq January 30, 2017. Picture taken January 30, 2107. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah
Soldiers have a far more pressing issue to worry about – the militants watching them from just across the Tigris – with mortar attacks and gunfire keeping eastern Mosul on edge.
The only people wearing hotel slippers these days are Iraqi forces clutching assault rifles.
 General view from insde shows the damage to the five-star Ninewah Oberoi Hotel in Mosul city, Mosul, Iraq January 30, 2017. Picture taken January 30, 2017. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah
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الأوسمة :  المشاركات : 78668 نقاط : 701506 التقييم : 313 العمر : 118 | | موضوع: رد: Feb. 02, 2017 Mosul hotel catered to elites: from Saddam allies to suicide bombers الجمعة 3 فبراير 2017 - 18:57 | |
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