$45-Million Clock and Tower Being Built in Baghdad

NICOSIA, Cyprus — Iraq is building a $45-million clock in Baghdad, featuring gold-plated hands and a 141-foot pendulum, the Iraqi News Agency reported.

The 167-foot clock tower is rising in the Harithiya district, overlooking the highway connecting downtown Baghdad with the international airport, the official news agency said Thursday.

At the base of the tower will be a museum, shopping mall, restaurants and conference halls, the report said. The ground floor of the building will be reserved for statues depicting major events in the “heroic life” of President Saddam Hussein, starting with his birth, it added.

Surrounding the building will be 23 water fountains, lawns and rose gardens covering an area of 15 square miles.

The clock will have hands coated in gold donated to the government by “the brave Iraqi women” during the eight-year war with Iran, the news agency said.

In memory of the war dead, a crystal ball “filled with samples of the weapons used by our martyrs in defense of their homeland” will be attached to the end of the pendulum, the report said.