Hundreds of Iraqis braved the blustery cold and heavy police presence Friday to watch the start of a refurbishment operation to restore a Baghdad national monument to its pre-Saddam Hussein glory.
Seen as a symbol of freedom, Iraqi artist Jawad Salim designed the enormous Liberation Monument to commemorate the July 14th, 1958 revolution that overthrew the British-backed monarchy. Five years later Saddam's Baath party seized power.
Towering above Tahrir Square in the heart of eastern Baghdad, the cultural icon has been defaced by graffiti, years of neglect and posters from a plethora of political parties to have sprung up in post-Saddam Iraq.
Dozens of cleaners used brooms to slosh away pools of muddy rainwater as interim culture minister Mufid Mohammad Jawad al-Jazairi and public works minister Nisrin Mustafa al-Barwari toured the cement site and grassy esplanade.
"Only by culture can we help people return back to their humanist roots which were destroyed by Saddam Hussein and his dictatorship," Jazairi said.
Salim "is a great man who we all remember with nostalgic feeling, because he reminds us of the good part of Iraqi history, the potential for Iraqis, and the wealth of art and culture that exists in Iraq," said Barwari.
But faced with the mammoth size of the task, the clean-up operation and re-planting of trees is set to last indefinitely, municipal workers said.
Up to 20 Baghdad city council employees are working from 6:00 am to 2:00 pm at the site everyday, said sanitation supervisor Mohammed Kaissar, 47.
Broken glass, banana skins are strewn in the grass which has turned into bog after January rains, but the crowd was undeterred.
"I came for this celebration, because Salim is the first artist in Iraq and perhaps in the whole Arab world," artist Karema Hasen, 40, said.
"It represents freedom and all the great characteristics of Iraq," she said.
After addressing the crowd, the ministers toured the site, obligingly scraping away at tattered posters and dabbing a brush for the cameras.
Musicians gave an impromptu performance, as spectators jostled among plainclothes Iraqi police and civil defence forces for a slice of the action.
"The people of Iraq are happy, happy today in this celebration," said pensioner Kadam Sasul Tam.
A nine-year-old girl and her father had travelled up from Dilah province especially to attend the event.
But others were bemused at the flurry as journalists competed with security guards to get as close to the action as possible.
"I had no idea about this. I come here every Friday and was surprised when the minister turned up. But I appreciate his efforts to preserve Iraq's heritage," Rebwar Nouri, 41, said.
The interim culture ministry is footing the bill for the refurbishment, but is nonetheless relying heavily on volunteer work, an official said.
"It's not just about today and also applying it to all other cultural sites of Iraq," said al-Barwari.
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