09 November 2004	Tuesday	25 Ramazan 1425

BERLIN, Nov 8: German investigators said on Monday they have launched a probe into claims that part of a now legendary statue of Saddam Hussein being offered by an Internet auction house is a fake.

What is purportedly the left leg of the bronze statue, which was toppled by US troops in April last year in one of the most repeated images of the invasion of Iraq, is being auctioned by the Azubo.de website.

The site claims the leg was sold by British troops to a scrap metal dealer in the western German state of Lower Saxony who sold it on to its current owner, identified on the website only by the pseudonym Paul9111.

The top bid for the leg, remounted on a concrete plinth, is running at 9,800 euros (12,650 dollars) with offers due to close on Tuesday.

The bronze statue was pulled down by a US armoured car as Iraqis cheered and the world's media recorded the event and its aftermath, with dozens of men beating the statue's face with shoes once it had crashed to the ground. It was the last statue of the Iraqi leader to be erected in Baghdad, in April 2002, and was designed to commemorate his 65th birthday. -AFP