BURJ TOWER DUBAI

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Dubai prepared to inaugurate the world's tallest skyscraper on Monday, hoping to shift international attention away from the Gulf emirate's deep financial crisis and rekindle the optimism that once fueled its turbocharged growth.
Crews rushed to complete preparations for the official opening of the Burj Dubai tower, which stands at least 160 stories high. The exact height will only be revealed at the evening inauguration.
The developer's chairman said it cost about $1.5 billion to build the tapering metal-and-glass spire billed as a "vertical city" of luxury apartments and offices. It boasts four swimming pools, a private library and a hotel designed by Giorgio Armani.
Dubai's ruler will open the skyscraper with a fireworks display and light show in a celebration marking four years since his ascension to power. Security is expected to be tight with more than 1,000 security personnel, including plainclothes police and sharpshooters, local media reported.
Cleaning crews were busy scrubbing windows and sweeping the plaza at the tower's base just hours before festivities began.
Burj Dubai opens in the midst of a severe financial crisis in the city-state — one of seven small sheikdoms that make up the United Arab Emirates.
Dubai was little more than a sleepy fishing village a generation ago but it boomed into the Middle East's commercial hub over the past two decades on the back of business-friendly trading policies, relative security, and vast amounts of overseas investment.