The Korea Herald

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Saddam cell now unlit, dusty and missing a commode

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Published : Nov. 8, 2011 - 09:42

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The small cell concealed in a bombed-out villa is dusty now, has no electricity, and its door and toilet are gone, bound for a US museum. But it once held Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.

There is no graffiti on the cell's white walls, no remnants of the once-feared dictator's presence.

The narrow concrete platform that held his mattress is empty, and only a few pipes and an outline remain of the stainless steel combination toilet-sink that was mounted on one wall.

The toilet and the door are to end up in a military police museum in Missouri in the United States, according to Lieutenant Colonel Jerry Brooks, the command historian for United States Forces - Iraq.

In the dusty courtyard where Saddam was given an hour a day to exercise, plywood boxes of baked-dry dirt are all that remain of the dictator's garden, in which he is said to have planted flowers and vegetables.

According to Brooks, he spent the other 23 hours a day in the cell, unless he was in court, meeting with lawyers or being interrogated.

Saddam's prison was housed inside one of two bombed-out villas on an island in a man-made lake on Baghdad's outskirts, within the Camp Victory military base, which includes a number of palaces and lakes the dictator commissioned.

The outside of Saddam's one-time prison, which was known simply as Building 114, is scarred by shrapnel, and the uppermost portion of its roof has collapsed.

The villa's exterior was intentionally left damaged so as not to arouse suspicions, Brooks told reporters.

"The exterior was left bombed-out, so people wouldn't know what was going on inside," he said. But "inside, we converted it to a maximum-security prison."

The multi-million-dollar modifications took several months and were "done with a great deal of secrecy," he said. The prison was guarded by military police.

"What you wanted to do was ensure that no attempts were made to break Chemical Ali or Saddam Hussein out of jail," he said.

Saddam was not the only prisoner held on the small island -- his cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as "Chemical Ali" for his role in poison gas attacks, including one on the town of Halabja in 1988 that killed 5,000 people, was also jailed there.

"Saddam was held from 2004 until December 30, 2006," after which he was executed, while Majid was also held there before his 2008 execution, Brooks said.

Majid's cell is a mirror image of Saddam's, though its toilet, having hosted a less famous posterior, is still present.

The facility has three cells, but only two were used. It also contains an interrogation room where Saddam was questioned, with four cameras used to film the sessions.

The prison has been closed since 2009 and without electricity since 2010, Brooks said.

There is speculation it may be turned into a museum after it is handed over to the Iraqi government along with the rest of Camp Victory before the December 31 withdrawal deadline for US forces in Iraq. (AFP)

 

<한글 기사>

후세인 쓰던 변기 美 박물관에 전시

미군, 후세인 감방 공개…이라크 최대 기지 내달 반환

이라크 독재자 사담 후세인이 처형되기  전까 지 지낸 작은 감방은 폭격 맞은 주택 안에 숨겨져 있었다. 창문 없는 벽에는 아무런 글씨도 쓰여있지 않았고 변기와 문도 뜯겨 후세인이 지낸 자취는 찾아볼 수 없다.

스테인리스스틸 변기와 철제 문짝은 미국 미주리주(州) 레오나드 우드 기지에 있는 헌병박물관에 전시될 예정이라고 제리 브룩스 중령이 7일(현지시간) 말했다.

후세인이 지난 2004~2006년 갇혀 있던 15㎡ 넓이의 감방은 바그다드 외곽  빅토 리 기지의 인공호수로 둘러싸인 섬에 있다. 이 건물은 폭격을 맞은 흔적이 남아있고 지붕 꼭대기가 무너진 상태 그대로 있다.

브룩스 중령은 건물 외관을 훼손된 상태로 둔 것은 이곳이 후세인의 감옥이라는 것을 은폐하기 위한 것이라면서 내부는 최고의 보안 시설을 갖춘 감옥으로 개조했다 고 기자들에게 설명했다.

이 감옥에서는 독가스로 수천명을 살해해 '케미칼 알리'로 악명 높은 후세인의 사촌 알리 하산 알-마지드도 2008년 처형될 때까지 함께 갇혀 있었다.

이라크 주둔 미군은 후세인이 최후를 맞은 곳이며 사령부로 이용한 최대 규모 기지인 빅토리 기지를 다음 달 이라크에 반환할 예정이다.

빅토리 기지는 42㎞ 길이의 벽과 철조망으로 둘러싸여 있는데 한때 4만명의  병 력이 있던 곳이다.

505개 기지에 17만명에 달했던 이라크 주둔 병력은 현재 12개 기지에  3만1천명 만 남았는데 지난달 버락 오바마 대통령은 미군이 올 연말까지 이라크에서 모두  철 수할 것이라고 밝혔다.