Iraq Also Rebuilds Its Embassy

Nation's Self-Rule Heralds Cleanup of Dupont Circle Building

The mahogany paneled lobby of the newly reopened Iraqi Embassy on P Street NW has been buffed to a shine, and trash has been swept from the grounds. A television just past the receptionist's desk is again the center of attention, still tuned to CNN.

But the nervousness ascribed to the last ambassador -- who used to check broadcasts before the invasion of Kuwait to make sure he was on message with Saddam Hussein -- is long gone. Dozens of enormous pictures of the former dictator have been packed up or banished to the basement.

"Maybe we will keep them as souvenirs," said Faiz Al-Gailani, the deputy chief of mission, showing visitors the water-stained, rubbish-filled basement where employees of the last regime left piles of shredded paper before fleeing at the start of the Persian Gulf War.

After nearly 14 years of neglect and nonexistent diplomatic relations, the three-story landmark mansion in Dupont Circle has rejoined the ranks of 177 other countries that have ties with the United States. Once a stately home in which presidents and first ladies were entertained, then the official mouthpiece of a tyrannical regime, the embassy became a physical symbol of diplomatic blight.

Now, with the raising of a flag and switching of a brass plate, the former Iraqi Interests Section has emerged from diplomatic limbo under the protection of Algeria and Bahrain. It's again a full embassy, stepping slowly, blinking, into the light.

With that come the first steps toward reconnecting with the community at large, from shopping at Costco to mowing the grass to issuing passports to throwing parties that attract neighbors as well as people from across the nation.

As if in empathy with its supervisors in Baghdad, the embassy still suffers sporadic electrical outages. While its neighbors entertain in splendor, its water pipes are corroded, its electric lines frayed, its phones on the fritz. Iraq's top envoy in the United States can call out, but the public is lucky to reach a human being on one of the two working lines in the building.

Then there is the matter of how to refer to Rend Rahim Francke, the 54-year-old U.S. citizen who was named Iraq's representative to Washington in November by the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council in Baghdad. Iraq officially gained self-rule June 28, but Francke has not yet presented her credentials to President Bush. Because the State Department hasn't received a formal request for Francke to be named ambassador, she is technically not even an ambassador-designate.

Francke deflects questions about her status and tells people she serves at the behest of what's now called the Iraqi Interim Government. What's clear is that a place once feared by Iraqi Americans as a means of spying on them is now led by a member of the opposition and an official optimist: a modern, educated woman who favors pink power suits.

She has her hands full. In addition to diplomacy and the consular affairs of Iraqi Americans, Francke manages three other diplomats and four locally hired support staff members, makes calls to members of Congress and meets with visiting Iraqi ministers.

It's true, Iraqi Americans are not exactly lining up at the embassy for travel documents. But business executives, scholars and journalists are traveling to Iraq in numbers Francke predicts will increase as the situation stabilizes.

"We're not doing tour packages yet," Francke said with a wry smile.

One of the people she manages is an accountant who also serves as an administrator, diplomat and procurement aide, and has been busy buying daily necessities from toilet paper to paper clips.

"He has assistants, so he doesn't have to physically get in the car and drive to Office Depot," Francke said. "In order to save money, we buy things in bulk. Costco, as far as I know, is one of their favorite stores."