Can Baghdad rise from the ashes? War torn Baghdad is not a destination high on most peoples list of holiday destinations, not yet anyway ...

As the death toll among both Iraqis and coalition soldiers rises on an almost daily basis, promoting the country's tourist attractions may seem something of a lost cause.

But wars, mines, looting, crime and chaos notwithstanding, a steady stream of pilgrims from Iran have been making their way to Iraq's holy cities of Najaf and Kerbala.

Pilgrims from the Muslim world have always been the mainstay of Iraq's tourist industry. At the Madrid donors' conference last October the Iranian Foreign Minister, Kamal Kharrazi did not need to offer aid. Iraq would be assured of at least 100,000 tourists from the Islamic Republic every month and they would spend at least $500m annually, Kharrazi predicted confidently.

The Iranian press reported that in October 2003 that nearly 300 people had died trying to reach Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. They braved minefields, bandits and border guards not to mention an arduous walk across barren land littered with the military wreckage front the Iran-Iraq war. The New York Times reported that more than 17,000 Iranians have been turned back by US forces trying to prevent suspected Islamic militants from fomenting violence.

Western tourists have also visited the holy cities and stood enthralled by the magnificent shrines. But they were more attracted by the country's rich archaeological sites which have acted as a magnet far visitors throughout the centuries.

Iraq is a land of clay tablets, cylinder seals, painted murals, ziggurats (pyramids with steps) and seemingly endless ruins of temples and palaces.

The ancient name of Iraq (Mesopotamia) is Greek for 'land between the rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates. Historians have labelled Mesopotamia the cradle of civilisation. In 3000BC Sumerian kings, who ruled at the same time as the earliest Egyptian dynasties, built the first cities. Hammurabi (1792 -50BC), a ruler of Babylon developed one of the earliest codes of law to ensure that 'justice prevailcd in the country'.

For today's tourists a visit to Babylon, 90km south of Baghdad is a must. It is the most restored of the ancient sites courtesy of Saddam Hussein, who imitated Nebuchadnezzar's practice of engraving his name on bricks. There is a magnificent lion carved in basalt and the Ishtar

Gate with some decorations of bulls and dragons in unglazed brick reliefs.

A group of American and British soldiers were the first tourists in post-Saddam Iraq. Before leaving for home they sat spell bound in Babylon while an Iraqi guide enlightened them about the wonders of the ancient world.

Sadly not all military personnel were so appreciative. Aid workers claim that US forces spray-painted one of the world's most ancient structures--the Sumerian city of Ur in southern Iraq with graffiti and stole kiln baked bricks. American marines stationed near Babylon do not always look favourably at requests to visit the site, on one occasion they even tried to stop the director of the Iraq National Museum from entering. However, the Polish peace-keeping military contingent rends to be a lot more accommodating.

Miraculously the 21 days of war (20 March 10 April 2003) did not destroy any of Iraq's major ancient sites (Agargouf, Arbil, Ashur, Babylon, Borsippa, Cresiphon, Eridu, Hatra, Khorsabad, Kifal, Kish, Lagash, Larsa, Nimrud, Nineveh, Nippur, Tell Harmal, Al'Ukhaidir, Ur and Uruk). The damage has been done by looters and years of neglect.

The reconstruction of Iraq has now begun and added to the myriad of issues--political, logistical and security--the companies involved in rebuilding have to take into account the impact on the cultural property. At a recent forum at the Smithsonian institution, the Director of the Iraq National Museum, Dr Donny George Youkhanna, identified two construction projects that had destroyed archaeological sires. He is afraid this will become common place unless companies are required to work closely with existing archaeological infrastructure, giving the State Board of Antiquities enough time to organise salvage digs to rescue an estimated 10,000 endangered sites.

Perhaps the war has enhanced the country's archaeological profile. Tragically little has been done to preserve the cultural heritage or to promote tourism during the past 30 years. In the 1970s tourism was in its infancy in the Middle East. The ancient sites of Syria, Jordan and Egypt were the most popular destinations, along with Babylon (before Saddam's reconstruction). The well-heeled from Britain, France, Spain, Germany and Italy were keen to explore the Middle East.

During the 1980s the Baathist regime of Saddam Hussein went to great lengths to encourage visitors. Bur the promotion of Iraq was hindered by increasing repression and local people were discouraged from talking to foreigners. Iraq's State Organisation for Tourism began to spend lavishly on hotels such as the Mansour Meila, the Meridien and the Sheraton. But the eight year Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988) discouraged visitors as did difficulties in obtaining visas.

The period between the end of the Iran-Iraq War (1988) and the start of the second Gulf War (1992) was not an auspicious time for the development of tourism. Saddam's regime promised liberalisation and political reforms which amounted to little more than empty words. Iraqi cultural centres in Europe held exhibitions and made some attempt to promote the country.

After the second Gulf War and the imposition of sanctions, the tourist industry, which could be described more accurately a non-industry, passed through one of its bleakest periods. Paranoia about foreign spies made it virtually impossible for visitors to talk to the locals and, apart from the Shi'a pilgrims, hardly anyone went to Iraq.

But the dark clouds eventually lifted and limited numbers of European visitors started arriving again in 1999. Veteran Iraqi tour operator, Geoff Hann of the UK's Hinterland Travel, led 12 trips to the country's archaeological sites and holy cities between 1999 and 2003.

As the latest war loomed on the horizon the Iraqis became increasingly welcoming, Hann recalls. "They seemed to want tourists to be the smiling face of Iraq. We made them seem respectable in a funny sort of way we saw more than we have ever seen on previous visits".

Hann led the first post-war trip to Iraq and is optimistic about the industry's future. A new Ministry of Culture is being built and a Ministry of Tourism may follow.

Kadum Waille, the manager of Baghdad's Asham Travel is dismayed that all the five star hotels are being occupied by the American army, humanitarian organisations and journalists. "It will take time to renovate these hotels once stability has been restored". In the meantime the private hotels have raised their prices considerably and it is very, very expensive to stay in Baghdad".

It is likely that the private and public sector will go into partnership to revitalise Iraq's tourist industry and joint ventures with travel agencies in Europe may be considered. In the 1980s Baghdad had at least 20 privately owned travel companies and the Iraqis are certainly not backward in coming forward when ii comes to developing industries which fell by the wayside during the days of sanctions and wars. But foreign capital does not go where it is not wanted and does not stay where it is not welcome. Major hotel chains and western tour operators will not consider setting foot in the country if they feel their security cannot be guaranteed.

Even when the dust settles, Iraq will be a niche tourism market rather than a mass market for westerners. Specialist companies focusing on ancient history and archaeology such as Patrick Syder Travel, Ancient World Tours, Martin Randell Travel and Andate Tours may add Iraq to their itineraries sometime in 2005 or later. The airport has been closed due to rocket attacks on aircraft. At present only a few daredevils are prepared to brave bandits and bullets to get to Baghdad from Amman by road. Japanese Airlines tried to open an office in Sadoun Street earlier this year but would-be looters fired a rocket at it when they discovered there was nothing to steal.

While foreign tourism is on the back burner internal tourism is thriving. The Kurdish north of the country, sealed off to most ordinary Iraqis after the Kurds rebelled against Saddam in 1991, is enjoying an influx of tourists from other regions. Thousands of Iraqis are spending the summer rediscovering what used to be a favourite holiday area with its cooler climate, a welcome change front the in tense heat of the flat desert. The former Bakrajo airstrip used by Saddam Hussein in 1988 to transport troops will soon become a regional airport.

Before Saddam's time tourists arrived from the Gulf states and Syria to eat "masguf" fish at riverside restaurants in Baghdad and shop in the galleries of Abu Nuwas. They would also visit the medieval Musransiriya School, with its exquisite Arabic arch and cloisters. They would walk through the neighboring souq and the old Christian quarter or visit the graceful Ottoman barracks.

Everything has changed. Two decades of war, sanctions and looting have left Baghdad a desperate place, lawless and derelict. The story of Baghdad, the city of peace, is largely the story of continuous war. As the American troops are battling snipers and regular demonstrators who want them to leave Iraq, the paradox which cynical history has written across the high aims implied in the name bestowed upon this city in AD762 by her founder Abu Ja'far Al Mansour, becomes evident.

Today Baghdad's greatest scenic asset is Saddam's Republican Palace, now headquarters of the coalition boss, Paul Bremer. It is a sprawling site, sonic three miles round in the heart of town, likened to Beijing's Forbidden City. Villas sit amid lawns, canals and eucalyptus groves. In the palace itself the great ball room has been transformed into offices and the astonishing throne room with its "scud murals" has become a chapel. The whole enclave should have been donated to the people of Baghdad when Saddam fell. Instead the Americans are laying down concrete car parks, chopping down trees and building a perimeter "Baghdad Wall".

But one day, eventually, the Americans will go. Then there will be a true civic opportunity to be seized. With money and a Herculean imagination, there is no reason why the city once described as the Paris of the Middle East should not rise again from the dust and ashes. George Bush may even stay for more than two hours on his next visit.