Saddam Hussein is dead but memories of the grandiose excesses of his 24-year reign live on in his resplendent palaces - still used by the US forces that deposed him in 2003.The late dictator built eight ornate presidential palaces across Iraq that embodied absolute power - the last word in dictatorial chic that for many of his opponents were hated symbols of repression."Oh children of ancient Mesopotamia, do not believe what you may hear outside the homeland," says an Arabic inscription at Saddam's Republican Palace in Baghdad."You have only to look to your leader-president, your leader-struggler, Saddam Hussein. Believe only what he tells you, and take all else as rumour and lies," it exhorts the overawed visitor.Intended as symbols of Saddam's absolute power, many of the palaces are today used by American forces who invaded Iraq and deposed him in 2003.Soldiers have taken oaths of US citizenship in the Al-Faw palace, swearing allegiance in the despot's resplendent rotunda hall to a country he loathed.A third Baghdad palace, which lies in the heavily fortified zone that houses the headquarters of the new US-backed regime, has become the largest American embassy in the world. The basic building - named the People's Palace - dates back to the 1930s but Saddam added two wings with a 1995 inscription praising him as "Mr President, supreme leader Saddam Hussein, whom God protects." (PTI)
