Iraq plans to open Saddam museum

Iraqis loot Saddam Hussein's palace in Baghdad after the US invasion

A statue of Saddam Hussein is toppled in Baghdad

BAGHDAD (AFP) — Iraq plans to open a museum filled with toppled dictator Saddam Hussein's weapons, statues, paintings, furniture and artefacts, officials told AFP on Saturday.

The items collected and catalogued in the six years since the US-led invasion are being handed back to the Iraqi government, which will consider a site for what would undoubtedly become a major attraction.

"These possessions are for the Iraqi people," said Abdul Zahraa al-Talqani, a tourism and antiquities ministry spokesman, adding that a committee would be formed to find a site for the museum.

"We will look for a big building. I think one of the presidential palaces in Baghdad probably will be the place of the museum," said Talqani, noting that clothes, documents and various gifts given to Saddam by foreign leaders were among the possessions.

"This is what was found after the invasion," he added.

Some undisplayed Saddam memorabilia are currently stored in the National Museum in Baghdad, which only reopened in February after having been looted in the days that followed the dictator's ouster.

The US military said on Saturday the return of "commemorative weapons, paintings, furniture and statues" once belonging to Saddam "signifies the improvement of the security of Iraq."

The possessions, including the weapons, had been stored at a depot in Taji, 35 kilometres (22 miles) north of Baghdad, but have been transferred to an Iraqi warehouse at Abu Ghraib, nearer the capital, the statement said.

"The final goal is for these weapons to be displayed at a special museum with Saddam Hussein's artefacts," said Major Franco Nieves.

"They will be displayed for all the people of Iraq, future generations and visitors from of all over the world to admire."