Smash hit

The average number of families coming per day has risen to about 15 from around 5 a year ago, said Mr Dahan. He expects thousands to descend for the second anniversary of Saddam’s death on December 30.

Embroidery on curtains in the windows reads “Martyrs’ Hall”, in honour of Saddam. Outside the yellow-brick building lie the graves of his two sons, Uday and Qusay, and grandson Mustapha, aged 14, all killed in a US raid in 2003. Two male assistants are also buried there.

A fortnight ago, tribal members restored an office in the hall that was once used by Saddam, including pictures of him on the phone and brandishing a rifle.

Cream-coloured sofas, used by guests of the former dictator, line the small room, while his old, wooden desk sits in one corner. Tribesmen had kept the furniture in storage since the invasion to protect it from the threat of looting.

“When the security situation becomes more stable there are more items for us to display,” said Talal Misrab, the head guard in charge of protecting the tomb and a former Saddam bodyguard.

“For example, the shoes he was wearing when he was executed and some of his civilian suits.” There are also plans to recreate a bedroom he once used.

He is glad still to be working for the man whose whose legacy still casts a long shadow over the country.

“He ruled us for 35 years,” said Mr Misrab. “There is good and there is bad in it. We love him.”

Creating a shrine

— Saddam is buried in al-Awja, the village where he spent much of his childhood

— Plans are under way to turn the hall, originally built to hold celebrations, into a museum to him

— The average number of families visiting every day has risen to about fifteen from about five a year ago

— Embroidery on curtains in the windows reads “Martyrs’ Hall”, in honour of Saddam

— Cream sofas, used by guests of the former dictator, line the small room

— His old wooden desk sits in one corner Tribesmen kept the furniture in storage after the invasion to protect it from looting

— “When the security situation becomes more stable there are more items for us to display,” said Talal Misrab, the tomb’s head guard. “For example, the shoes he was wearing when he was executed and some of his civilian suits”

— There are also plans to recreate a bedroom that he once used

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