BAGDAD (AFP) - Plans are underway in Iraq to revive the religious tourism industry with the aim of attracting tens of millions of pilgrims of all faiths to holy sites.

But a meeting here Saturday between officials of the foreign and culture ministries, tour operators and religious representatives saw a spat between Shiites and Sunnis over the value of their monuments. "We have 45 tombs of imams," Hussein al-Shemi, director of Shiite religious affairs, said. "These are not just stones, but also a source of knowledge and inspiration."

The statement prompted a walkout by Shemi's Sunni counterpart from the meeting, which ended with an agreement to form a committee to supervise religious tourism.

Under Saddam Hussein, the industry was under the guidance of his son Udai, and was restricted since the Sunni-based regime was suspicious of the majority Shiites.

"We must lift the restrictions, while better organizing the tourism, so freedom does not turn into chaos," Shemi told AFP.

Since the fall of the regime, flocks of Iranian pilgrims have trekked to the holy places of Najaf and Karbala where the founders of Shiism, Imams Ali and Hussein, are buried.

"Two thousand Iranian pilgrims cross the border every day," Abu Majid, manager of the Al-Zulfikar hotel in Najaf, said.

Said Ismael, another religious official, estimated that the industry could generate two billion dollars a year, twice what it yielded -- and was embezzled -- under Saddam's regime.

The committee formed Saturday, which is answerable to the government, is to supervise the activity, setting a target for the number of visitors, making agreements with neighboring countries such as Iran and Lebanon, and approving tour operators.

It will also work to improve infrastructure, rate hotels, and train staff.

"Everything crumbled with Saddam," the transitional government spokesperson Hamid al-Kifai said, emphasizing that Muslim, Christian, and Jewish religious heritages were equally involved.

The government's director of other religions in Iraq, Abdullah Hourmas, spoke highly of the Mosul region's Christian heritage.

With ancient Sumerian and Babylonian historic sites, "tourism should become the country's second industry" after oil, said Culture Minister Mufid al-Jazairi. "We must reinforce infrastructure, lift restrictions, and invite foreign experts, especially from Arab countries," he said. In August, Rauf al-Ansari, Office of Tourism general coordinator, asserted that "with the Tigris and Euphrates, the marshes, the palm forests, and the ancient Mesopotamian archeological sites and (Shiite) holy cities, Iraq should be one of the first tourist destinations in the world." "All these advantages should allow us to attract around ten million tourists in the coming years," he said. br/jlm/mb AFP 301119 GMT NOV 03 ????????????????? 14-55-24.J09 ô‘?• ?‘?—÷? ?????????????????