Hotel Shows No Sign of Iraqi Military Command, Reporter Says

The following eyewitness account was sent by Reuters reporter Maamoun Youssef, resident of a Baghdad hotel that the Pentagon says is a key military command center.

Correspondents staying at Baghdad’s Rashid Hotel were taken on a guided tour of the building today and saw no sign that it housed a military command and control center as reported by Washington.

I was among the residents who toured the hotel and its underground shelters, site of the alleged military nerve center, accompanied by hotel manager Ghazi Ismail.

We saw no military personnel anywhere and nothing to confirm that it was a command and control center.

A Defense Department official in Washington said Wednesday that Iraq had a major military communications center hidden in a secret basement under the Rashid, the only hotel still operating in the Iraqi capital.

He said that the U.S. military had known about its existence even before the Gulf War began but that it had been ruled out as a target because of the potential for civilian casualties.

Dozens of civilians--including the entire foreign press corps--are staying at the hotel.

The U.S. official, who asked not to be identified, said the center may be the principal communications command post left in Baghdad after heavy allied bombing.