Saddam's uniform for sale
2005-11-30 11:55
New York - A dress uniform that purportedly belonged to deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein has been put on sale by a United States auction website with a starting bid of $5 000 dollars.
The uniform, tagged by Manion's auction house as the "ultimate artifact" from the US-led invasion of Iraq, is olive green and bears the epaulettes denoting Saddam's rank and other features specific to the ousted president.
As of Tuesday afternoon, bidding stood at $5 254.
Manion's spokesperson John Conway told AFP that the auction house was confident the uniform was authentic.
"We obtained it directly from the veteran who brought it back," Conway said.
"It matches the photographs of Saddam Hussein wearing this style of uniform - exact same insignia and everything - and the location it was retrieved from makes sense," he added.
Conway said the owner, a sergeant in the US Third Infantry Division who is currently on a second tour of duty in Iraq, had found the uniform in "one of Saddam's personal tailor shops" during the 2003 military assault on Baghdad International Airport.
"The soldier said 'get whatever you can for it,' so there wasn't any great price criterion or anything," Conway said.
A previous Saddam uniform auctioned by Manion's fetched $20 000 dollars.
"Whether Saddam wore it or not, it's his uniform," Conway said. "Nobody else could wear it. It would be a death sentence."
"We've been doing this for about 30 years, so when you see a few of these things you kind of get a feel for it," he added.
Manion's, with offices in Kansas City and Hamburg, Germany, specialises in historical military uniforms.