A mosaic portrait of former president George Bush has won a reprieve from the feet of people checking into Baghdad's top hotel.
Three days before a referendum confirming Saddam Hussein's position as president of Iraq, workers at the Rasheed Hotel laid a blue carpet over the marble mosaic, which bears the caption "George Bush is a Criminal."It has graced the threshold since soon after a stray cruise missile hit the hotel in early 1993.
The workers glued the carpet to the floor, suggesting that the change might be permanent. But hotel executives said they could give no explanation for the decision or say if it had any political significance.
The Iraqi government is using the Rasheed to lodge dignitaries visiting from friendly foreign countries for the occasion of the referendum Sunday.