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New statue replaces Saddam A group of Iraqi
artists has unveiled a sculpture to replace the
statue of Saddam Hussein which was torn down by US
troops and Iraqis on the day the Iraqi president
lost control of Baghdad.
The new sculpture is seven metres (23 feet)
high and shows a symbolic Iraqi family holding
aloft a crescent moon and a sun.
The sculpture was erected in the Fardus square
by a group called the Najin - the survivors,
alluding to the fact that they evaded the
authorities during Saddam Hussein's rule.
The square is opposite the Palestine Hotel,
which was the base for international media during
the Iraq war.
One of the group told Kurdish TV that the
sculpture represents Iraqi society, with the
crescent moon representing Islam and the sun
representing the Sumerian civilization in Iraq.
"These two civilizations have called for
love, peace and freedom," he said.
The group said the sculpture was only one third
of the work they had planned for the Fardus square
and the other two thirds would cover the whole
area. They added that financial problems had
delayed its completion.
The sculptor of the piece, Basim Hamad, was
optimistic about the future for the Iraqi people
after the war.
"What we see today in our country could be
the first signs of freedom," he said.
"What remains is a history that we will make
together with the Najin group at its heart."
BBC Monitoring , based in Caversham in southern
England, selects and translates information from
radio, television, press, news agencies and the
Internet from 150 countries in more than 70
languages.
Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2003/05/30 17:56:54 GMT
© BBC MMIV
ORIGINAL
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