Saddam’s gun is Bush trophy

A HANDGUN that Saddam Hussein was clutching when US forces captured him in a hole in Iraq last December is now kept by US President George Bush at the White House.

Military officials had the pistol mounted after it was seized from Saddam near his hometown of Tikrit last year. Soldiers involved in the capture gave it to Mr Bush in a private meeting, Time magazine reported.

The magazine quoted a visitor who had been shown the gun, which is kept in a small study off the Oval Office. It is the same room where former President Bill Clinton had some of his encounters with former intern Monica Lewinsky.