Not very buttock like …

After being arrested for trying to import Saddam’s buttocks it would appear that they may not be Saddam’s buttocks after all :

TWO men who allegedly illegally imported the buttock from a statue of Saddam Hussein to Derbyshire have been released without charge.

Nigel Ely and Jim Thorpe were arrested in January on suspicion of breaching Section 8 of the Iraqi Sanctions Order 2003 after bringing a chunk of the famous statue into the country in 2003.

The 2ft lump of bronze, from the figure’s buttocks, is currently hidden in a secret location.

It was allegedly picked up by ex-SAS soldier Nigel Ely in April 2003, when the statue was pulled down by an American military vehicle and destroyed by jubilant Iraqis in Baghdad.

Mr Ely was later arrested, along with friend Jim Thorpe, after the Iraqi government launched a legal battle demanding its return, claiming it was a piece of “cultural antiquity”.

The pair said they wanted to sell the item, donating the money raised in the sale to military charities.

But Derbyshire police have now released the pair, saying they found “evidence to cast doubt on the authenticity” of the piece of art.

I wonder if this is a first for UK policing – trying to authenticate bronze buttocks?

And, as an aside, were Saddam’s buttocks a specific part of the Iraqi sanctions order or did it refer to buttocks in general – enquiring minds would like to know.