BAGHDAD: A number of Saddam Hussein’s Arabian thoroughbreds, moved out of Baghdad before the war and deprived of adequate food and water for more than two months, have been rescued and returned to their stables.

The 16 malnourished horses are all that remains of around 70 of Saddam’s top-class horses, the remainder of which have either escaped, been stolen or sold off, stablehand Ali Hussein Ali said.

Saddam had the animals moved from central Baghdad with the onset of war in March and sent to a racecourse on the city’s western outskirts, away from the relentless US bombing that pounded the capital for three weeks.

But with the collapse of Saddam’s regime in early April and the ensuing breakdown in law and order, some of the horses — including Saddam’s pride and joy, an 18-year-old white mare named Zena — either escaped or were stolen.

Staff abandoned the racecourse after being threatened by gunmen, 20-year-old Ali said. Others then took charge of the animals but failed to take adequate care of them, and later refused to hand them over.

“The horses are in bad shape, they’re underfed and haven’t been groomed,” Ali said, adding that a group of around a dozen stablehands were working with two veterinary surgeons to get the remaining horses back on form.

Many of the horses looked malnourished while others had suffered untreated injuries.

An operation by the US military working with the International Fund for Animal Welfare resulted in the return of the animals on Tuesday.—AFP