The noose used to hang Saddam Hussein in 2006 is being auctioned as a piece of art. It is currently in the possession of former Iraqi official Movafagh Al-Rabi'i, who has put the noose around a bronze bust of Hussein and exhibits it in his home.
An unidentified Iraqi politician has told the daily Alarabiya Aljihad that several collectors and buyers from Israel, Iran and Kuwait have made offers to by the rope used to hang Saddam Hussein, and the highest bid has so far been seven million dollars.
The report indicates that Al-Rabii expects to get even more for it. The Iraqi government has said that if the rope is indeed sold, legally the money should be handed over to the Iraqi treasury.
Saddam Hussein was hanged in 2006, and Al-Rabi'i was present as an Iraqi government security official.
He told Al-Jazeera that Saddam Hussein was calm at the time of his hanging and held a Quran in his hands. They read the death sentence to him, and “like a broken man”, he surrendered to his fate, said his last prayer without any anxiety and put his head in the noose.
