Would-Be Buyers Boycott Saddam Luxury Yacht Sale
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Would-be buyers have shown little interest in Saddam Hussein's luxury yacht, which is being sold by Iraq after winning a legal dispute over its ownership, Reuters reported Tuesday.
The legal firm handling the sale said the former dictator's 269-foot superyacht, fitted with swimming pools, salons, a secret passage and a rocket launching system, has garnered little solid interest.
French authorities seized the boat on Jan. 31 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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Click here for a tour of the yacht.
A yacht brokerage firm had tried to sell the boat for a reported $35 million. But Iraq said the yacht still belonged to the country.
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"Given the current economic climate, clients are not falling over themselves (to make the purchase)," an executive, noting a silence from potential buyers, told Reuters.
U.S. missiles destroyed another of Saddam's luxury yachts in 2003.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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