A former soldier who seized a buttock from Saddam Hussein's statue was told by the Iraqi government to give it back.
Nigel "Spud" Ely was part of Britain's elite commando regiment guarding a camera crew in April 2003 as it filmed jubilant Iraqis pulling down the giant statue in Baghdad.
Ely, from Derby in central England, picked up a two-foot (0.6-meter) lump of bronze that had formed part of the tyrant's backside and took it back to the UK.
Now the Iraqi government is claiming the metal chunk is a piece of the country's "cultural antiquity" and demanding that he return it or face possible theft charges.
Ely, now 52, has been interviewed by local police after the Iraqi embassy made a complaint.
He tried unsuccessfully to auction it last year in aid of injured troops.
He said, "If the Iraqis want to split the proceeds to give some to Iraqi charities, I am happy to listen."
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