Five years after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, nearly all its tourists are Shiite pilgrims from Iran flocking to holy sites in Najaf, Karbala and other southern cities.

A recent tourism conference in Najaf, home to the shrine of the Imam Ali, focused on building hotels and improving services for the devout, who have been less deterred by continuing violence.

In contrast, the Iraq Tourism Board has no offices in the USA and no immediate plans to woo intrepid Westerners.

American tourists are not permitted to travel independently in Iraq without an escort and must come as part of an organized group, Al-Yakobi says.

Published reports say the Pentagon is backing a five-year, $5 billion plan to build luxury hotels and shopping malls inside Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone.

Those pristine southern marshes in southern Iraq? Drained by Saddam Hussein and only now being restored.

Samarra's Mosque of the Golden Dome, one of the holiest sites in Shiite Islam? Bombed twice since 2006