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| Auction website offers Saddam uniform 27 November 2005 BAGHDAD: A US auction house is trying to sell one of Saddam Hussein's military uniforms online, calling it an "ultimate artefact" of the US war in Iraq. Manion's International Auction House is offering the olive green dress uniform, complete with Saddam's special rank on its shoulder straps, at a starting price of $US5000, ($NZ7273) but expects it to sell for much more. "We have only seen one other Hussein uniform here at Manion's, and it realised over $US20,000 at auction," the auctioneer says on its Web site. The company says the uniform was obtained by a soldier in the US army's Third Infantry Division after American troops seized Baghdad airport in April 2003. According to the military orders governing US forces in Iraq, soldiers are forbidden from taking any artefacts or souvenirs from the country except in very rare circumstances, a US military spokeswoman said on Saturday. Manion's said it would give a proportion of the proceeds from the sale to charity. Bidding closes on December 1. There have been no bids so far. |