Baghdad - Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has ordered the renovation of Ur, the biblical birthplace of Abraham, ahead of an expected visit by Pope John Paul, Baghdad newspapers reported yesterday. But the papers made no mention of the papal visit to Iraq.
They said a committee was set up consisting of officials from the Presidential Office and the ministries of endowment and religious affairs and culture and information to renovate the city.
The Iraqi patriarch of the Chaldean church, Raphael Bidawid, said in an interview published in France on Friday that the Vatican and Baghdad would announce this week that the Pope would visit Iraq, probably before Christmas.
The United States and the Jewish community have voiced concerns about the trip.