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:2024-12-24 09:35:10
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! (2124)
Related
- Ben Foster Files for Divorce From Laura Prepon After 6 Years of Marriage
- Emma Stone wins second Oscar for best actress, with a slight wardrobe malfunction: Watch
- Who is Robert Hur? A look at the special counsel due to testify on Biden classified documents case
- Christopher Bell wins NASCAR race at Phoenix to give emotional lift to Joe Gibbs Racing
- Dwayne Johnson Admits to Peeing in Bottles on Set After Behavior Controversy
- Horoscopes Today, March 9, 2024
- Sleep Better With Sheets, Mattresses, and More Bedroom Essentials for Sleep Week 2024
- Read all about it: The popularity of turning captions on
- Gisele Bündchen Makes First Major Appearance Since Pregnancy
- Maritime corridor for aid to Gaza will take two months to build and 1,000 U.S. forces, Pentagon says
Ranking
- What that 'Disclaimer' twist says about the misogyny in all of us
- Iowa vs. Nebraska highlights: Caitlin Clark rallies Hawkeyes for third straight Big Ten title
- NFC team needs: From the Cowboys to the 49ers, the biggest team needs in NFL free agency
- How Killers of the Flower Moon's Martin Scorsese Consoled Lily Gladstone After 2024 Oscars Loss
- Wheel of Fortune Contestant Goes Viral Over His Hilariously Wrong Answer
- Tighter proposed South Carolina budget would include raises for teachers and state workers
- Investigation says Ex-Colorado forensic scientist manipulated DNA test results in hundreds of cases
- Oscars 2024: Ryan Gosling Reunites With Barbie's Kens for I’m Just Ken Performance
Recommendation
-
Vogue Model Dynus Saxon Charged With Murder After Stabbing Attack
-
Woman loses feet after police say she was pushed onto subway tracks, struck by train in NYC
-
Lionel Messi does not play in Inter Miami's loss to CF Montreal. Here's the latest update.
-
Alexis Bledel Makes Rare Red Carpet Appearance at Elton John AIDS Foundation's Oscars 2024 Party
-
Georgia House Democrats shift toward new leaders after limited election gains
-
Oscars 2024 winners list: See who's taking home Academy Award gold in live time
-
Get $118 J.Crew Jeans for $44, 50% off Grande Cosmetics Brow Serum, $400 Off Purple Mattress & More Deals
-
Mother of 5-year-old girl killed by father takes first steps in planned wrongful death lawsuit