Current:Home > Contact-usSaddam Hussein's golden AK-47 goes on display for the first time ever in a U.K. museum-LoTradeCoin
Saddam Hussein's golden AK-47 goes on display for the first time ever in a U.K. museum
View Date:2024-12-23 20:37:42
A gold-plated AK-47 believed to have been owned by former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is to go on public display for the first time. Hussein and his sons gave the gleaming rifle to "people they wanted to influence," according to the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, northern England, which will be displaying the weapon as part of a new exhibition from Dec. 16.
The museum says the assault rifle came from a royal palace in Iraq.
It was discovered by British customs officers at Heathrow Airport in 2003, according to a newspaper report at the time, along with a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, six bayonets and a sniper rifle. The weapons were reportedly in containers marked as containing computer equipment.
The "Re:Loaded" exhibit at the armouries museum examines the crossover of guns and art. It will open almost exactly 20 years after Hussein was captured by U.S. forces on Dec. 13, 2003.
- Iraq war trauma still fresh 20 years after the U.S.-led invasion
"Ladies and gentlemen, we got him," U.S. coalition authority boss Paul Bremer said at a news conference eight months after U.S. troops controversially invaded Iraq.
Three years later, in December 2006, Hussein, refusing to wear a hood, was hanged on television after being convicted of murder. Hussein was sentenced over the killing of 148 Shiite Muslims in an Iraqi town where assassins had tried to kill him in 1982.
During his reign, Hussein and his Baath party used "violence, killing, torture, execution, arbitrary arrest, unlawful detention, enforced disappearance, and various forms of repression to control the population," according to a European Union report.
Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, as well as 4,500 U.S. service members, died in the war sparked by the U.S.-led invasion, which toppled Hussein from power but sparked a ferocious insurgency and a long sectarian conflict.
- In:
- Gun
- War
- Iraq
- Saddam Hussein
- United Kingdom
Frank Andrews is a CBS News journalist based in London.
TwitterveryGood! (652)
Related
- Democrat Ruben Gallego wins Arizona US Senate race against Republican Kari Lake
- Body camera footage shows man shot by Tennessee officer charge forward with 2 knives
- US electric vehicle sales to hit record this year, but still lag behind China and Germany
- A former Canadian RCMP intelligence official is found guilty of breaching secrets law
- Brian Austin Green’s Fiancée Sharna Burgess Celebrates Megan Fox’s Pregnancy News
- Colts LB Shaquille Leonard stunned by release, still shows up for turkey drive
- Could IonQ become the next Nvidia?
- Rescuers in India hope to resume drilling to evacuate 41 trapped workers after mechanical problem
- Patricia Heaton criticizes media, 'extremists' she says 'fear-mongered' in 2024 election
- How the hostage deal came about: Negotiations stumbled, but persistence finally won out
Ranking
- Wicked Director Jon M. Chu Reveals Name of Baby Daughter After Missing Film's LA Premiere for Her Birth
- Maui residents wonder if their burned town can be made safe. The answer? No one knows
- Going to deep fry a turkey this Thanksgiving? Be sure you don't make these mistakes.
- Microsoft hires Sam Altman 3 days after OpenAI fired him as CEO
- Brianna LaPaglia Addresses Zach Bryan's Deafening Silence After Emotional Abuse Allegations
- AP Week in Pictures: Europe and Africa
- UConn guard Azzi Fudd will miss remainder of the season with a knee injury
- A Thanksgiving guest's guide to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce
Recommendation
-
DWTS’ Sasha Farber and Jenn Tran Prove They're Closer Than Ever Amid Romance Rumors
-
How the hostage deal came about: Negotiations stumbled, but persistence finally won out
-
AP Week in Pictures: Asia
-
Witnesses describe vehicle explosion at U.S.-Canada border: I never saw anything like it
-
Oregon's Dan Lanning, Indiana's Curt Cignetti pocket big bonuses after Week 11 wins
-
What the events leading up to Sam Altman’s reinstatement at OpenAI mean for the industry’s future
-
English FA council member resigns after inappropriate social media post on war in Gaza
-
Travis Kelce after Chiefs' loss to Eagles: 'I'm not playing my best football right now'