$14 million upgrade to Iraqi hotel approved

The US-led coalition tasked with rebuilding war-ravaged Iraq has approved a 14-million-dollar bid to renovate and operate a hotel in the north of the country. The US military said a civilian company named as Sumer Group Holdings won the bid for Nineveh Hotel in the city of Mosul, in the largest outside investment in northern Iraq tourism since the war to oust Saddam Hussein.

'An agreement of terms was signed August 1 and will put 14 million dollars into the renovation of the hotel if it is approved', according to a statement from the coalition. The eight-storey hotel, formerly controlled by Saddam's Baath Party, is currently used as the headquarters for the 101st Airborne Division, which controls the town and the surrounding area.

The Iraqi Board of Tourism is in negotiations with Sumer representatives over details of the renovation, the statement said. No target date was given for completion of the renovations, and it was unclear whether the work would occur while American forces were still occupying the hotel. No further details about the company were provided.