Saddam Hussein's Luxury Yacht Returning to Iraq
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Saddam Hussein's luxury yacht will be towed from Greece to a port in southern Iraq after the resolution of a legal dispute over its ownership, the Iraqi government said Tuesday.
The former dictator's 269-foot yacht is fitted with swimming pools, salons, a secret escape passage and a rocket-launching system.
French authorities seized the boat on Jan. 31, 2008, after it docked in Nice on the Mediterranean coast. The yacht remained there while courts settled a row over the ship's ownership.
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The yacht is currently in Greece and maintenance work is about finished so the vessel can be returned to Iraq, said Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh.
The Iraqi government announced in November that it would try to sell the yacht, but al-Dabbagh said nobody has come up with the right price.
"We have received several offers from buyers, but we were not satisfied with the prices offered," al-Dabbagh said.
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A yacht brokerage firm had tried to sell the boat for a reported $35 million. But Iraq argued the vessel still belonged to the country.
The Iraqi Cabinet decided Tuesday that the Transportation Ministry would have the yacht towed to Basra, al-Dabbagh said.
He also said the Finance Ministry would arrange payments for the legal fees, which were 2 percent of the yacht's unspecified value, and the expenses of the Greek company in charge of maintaining the yacht.