Half a Billion in Gold found in Iraqi Truck

Reuters | May 23rd, 2003 | Reuters

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17:15 23May2003 RTRS-UPDATE 1-US seizes what may be $500 million in gold in Iraq

(Add details, background) WASHINGTON, May 23 (Reuters) - American troops have seized what appears to be $500 million worth of gold bars from a truck in Iraq, the U.S. military said on Friday. The 2,000 40-pound (18 kg) bars were seized on Thursday at Qaim on the Syrian border in western Iraq by soldiers of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, the U.S. military's Central Command said in a statement. It said the bars could be gold and worth as much as $500 million, depending on karat weight and purity. The Central Command, which headed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq to depose President Saddam Hussein, said soldiers found the bars while conducting "a routine traffic control search" of a Mercedes truck near the border. Two occupants of the truck, who were taken into custody, told the soldiers they had been told the bars were bronze, according to the command statement. The two also told soldiers they had been paid 350,000 Iraqi dinars (about $350) to pick up the truck in Baghdad and drive it to Qaim and turn it over to an individual. U.S. troops last month found an estimated $600 million in U.S. cash in boxes near Baghdad palace complexes. This month, U.S. officials said Saddam's son Qusay took about a billion dollars in currency from the central bank in Baghdad just before the Iraq war, but that most had been recovered. ((Reporting by Charles Aldinger and Will Dunham, editing by Stuart Doughty; Reuters Messaging: steve.holland.reuters.com@reuters.net; +1 202-898-8300, fax +1 202-898-8383)) For Related News, Double Click on one of these codes: [G] [UKI] [EMK] [C] [MTL] [GRO] [SOF] [RNP] [DNP] [PGE] [GOL] [US] [NEWS] [WASH] [IQ] [MEAST] [CRU] [PROD] [SY] [MET] [LEN] [RTRS] Friday, 23 May 2003 17:15:51 RTRS [nN233960] {EN} ENDS

[Tribune7]

Nah. It was Donald Sutherland, Telly Savalas and Clint Eastwood.

[Tribune7]

You poor bastard.

[WhiteGuy]

Don't the oraqi's owe US a pile of cash?

Maybe about $80 Thousand Million?

[Tribune7]

What the hell do you think you're doing, Oddball.

[#3Fan]

Put it on the open market! Flood the exchanges with it just to drive the goldbugs INSANE. That'd be worth $500 million to me.

40 tons isn't that much. Britain was putting 25 tons on the market every month a couple of years ago if I remember correctly.

[MichaelDammit]

Me thinks that Sadam is in Syria!

And the prize goes to......OutSpot

[AmericanVictory]

Iraq is not a poor country, but it is a looted and abused country.

[AmericanVictory]

Those crazy Nazrani, they'll believe any bs a Muslim tells them. Gold barsa and bronze bars, they don't differ in weight by more than hundreds of pounds, non?

[lewislynn]

80K lbs would be no problem for an American-made Class 8 truck - but it would be illegal in many states, 80K lbs being the max allowable GVW.

Gold is measured in troy weight. A pound of gold is 12 ozs.

[lilylangtree]

Somebody's crying.

[Squantos]

LMAO.......Nooooo that's mine !! It fell outta my pocket during Desert Storm and I want it back !

Dang Dave ! 2000 x 40 lb bars..........WOW !!!

Stay Safe !

[American in Israel]

They aren't poor over there, they just have dictatorships, regimes, and royal families who keep all the money for themselves, rob the country blind, steal, pilfer, enrich themselves, all while the people in the countries are starving. Somehow they manage to deflect all the blame on the US and UK.

Before Oslo the Average Arab under Israel had a

$10,000 a year annual income. After Oslo it dropped to $2,000 when Arafat was put in power over them. Now around 8 years later it is $850. Yep, that is a years income! Your words are right on the mark, accept in this case they deflect the blame onto Israel.

[Travis McGee]

"Kelly's Heros" comes to mind!