The Ocean Breeze. File picture

Baghdad, Nov. 2 (Reuters): The Iraqi government plans to sell a luxury yacht, moored off the French resort of Nice, that was one of many opulent treasures belonging to former dictator Saddam Hussein, a senior official said today.

The palatial Ocean Breeze is expected to be sold within weeks, government spokesperson Ali al-Dabbagh said.

The 270-ft pleasure boat, expected to fetch $30 million, features gold-tap bathrooms, a mini-operating theatre, a helicopter landing pad and a secret escape passageway, according to a report from The Sunday Times.

Iraq’s cabinet had decided to delegate the sale of the yacht to the finance and foreign ministries, the government said.

Dabbagh said an ownership dispute over the yacht had concluded in a French court.

“The ruling was in favour of Iraq,” he said.

Saddam, whose decades-long regime came to an abrupt end after a US-led invasion in 2003 and who was hanged in 2006 for crimes against humanity, was known for a lavish lifestyle.

His many palaces were replete with marble, gold-trimmed furniture and sumptuous gardens even as ordinary Iraqis suffered under severe economic sanctions.