London:) Former British Prime Minister
Tony Blair took with him a total of 76 gifts while leaving 10
Downing Street three years back, including 12 expensive wrist
watches and three electric guitars given to him by rock stars.
The full catalogue of 76 gifts handed over and which
he chose to keep during his time in office was made public
after a 10-month Freedom of Information campaign, the `Sunday
Express` reported.
It was already known he had kept 22 gifts, including
two 350-pound watches received from Italian Prime Minister
Silvio Berlusconi which Blair had paid 200 pounds each for.
The newly published list includes another 54 items,
among them 12 more wrist watches -- nine of them also from
Berlusconi, and three electric guitars.
One of the instruments was handed over by
guitar-making firm Fender, another came from Canadian singer
Bryan Adams and the third was signed and presented by U2
frontman Bono, the report said.
Presents handed over by guests, including visiting
heads of state become the property of the government, but
ministers can keep any that are worth less than 140 pounds or
buy them for their market value, minus a 140-pounds discount.
"The guitars could be worth a great deal if they are
vintage, were used in any major recordings or on tours or if
they were owned previously by Bono or Bryan Adams," Stephanie
Connell, from auction house Bonhams, was quoted as saying.
Other gifts Blair held on to include jewellery, vases,
rugs and daggers handed over by officials from Yemen, Oman and
Bahrain. He also took with him a nativity scene from the late
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and an iPod from California`s
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
PTI
