Saddam memorabilia on sale in Baghdad

Iraqpress ^ | 02/23/04 | Iraqpress

[Pikamax]

Saddam memorabilia on sale in Baghdad

Baghdad, Iraq Press, February 23, 2004 – Iraqis know a lot about the fabulous palaces the former leader Saddam Hussein built for himself and his family.

But they have little knowledge about his personal belongings.

Saddam Hussein was rumored to have had hundreds of expensive hats of different shapes and sizes.

His suits, coats, shoes and shirts were said to be of the most expensive type Italian, French or British boutiques offered.

A collection of these items is now for sale in the al-Amil District in Baghdad.

The organizer and owner of the memorabilia has turned his house into an exhibition and says hundreds of people come to visit everyday.

“Some of them come here out of curiosity. They just want to have a look at what Saddam had.

“Others come here to buy,” Abdulhussein Alawi said.

Alawi has dubbed the exhibition Mazad Ibn al-Auja (The Auction of the Son of al-Auja).

Al-Auja is the little village where Saddam was born. It is close to his hometown of Tikrit.

Alawi says he recently sold one of Saddam Hussein’s hats for $50 and one of his coats for $800.

“I know Saddam had paid a fortune for these items. For example, he had paid $63,000 for the coat and we have the receipt for that,” he said.

Saddam Hussein, now in US custody, had 30 large palaces and scores of villas and mansions across the country.

Almost all of them were looted after the 2003 US-led war that toppled his regime and ended his rule.

Alawi says the items in his exhibition were removed from one of Saddam Hussein’s mansions in Radhwaniya, close to where he lives.

Saddam spent billions of dollars on his palaces many of which were heavily bombed during the war.

Not only Saddam Hussein’s palaces were looted after the war.

Government buildings were striped of their contents and burned.

The largest presidential complex was in Baghdad and is now used as the base for US military and civil administration.

US-led occupation troops have turned Saddam’s second largest palace in Tikrit into a recreation center.

The troops occupy two more palaces, one in Mosul, in the north, and the other in Basra, in the south.

Fighters representing different political factions are said to be in control of several palaces.

Alawi says he collected his items from different sources which he refuses to identify.

But Iraqis say the parties now residing in these palaces are selling their contents.

Experts estimate cost of damage and looting of public property in Iraq at about $50 billion.

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[Paul Atreides]

I wonder how much his letters of support, from Sean, Susan, Tim, Ed, Janeane, Danny, Alec, and their pals will fetch.