CARS, furniture and garden equipment from the Swiss villa of the late dictator Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire were auctioned off in Savigny for 58,700 euros, the ATS news agency reported on Wednesday. The item considered the auction’s main prize was Mobutu’s bed, which went for 5,160 euros ($4,460). A small garden tractor went for 6,450 euros, while dining room furniture went off for lesser prices. The first sale on May 31 raised 115,000 euros. The prize then was Mobutu’s cane — one of the dictator’s trademarks along with his leopard-skin cap — which was acquired for 1,300 euros by a Swiss bakery shop owner living in the region. – AFP
Wednesday June 13, 2001