NEW YORK (AP) -- A 710-year-old copy of the declaration of human rights known as the Magna Carta — the version that became part of English law -—was auctioned Tuesday for $21.3 million, a Sotheby’s spokeswoman said.

The document, which had been expected to draw bids of $30 million or higher, was bought by David Rubenstein of The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm, the spokeswoman said.

Sotheby’s vice chairman David Redden called the old but durable parchment “the most important document in the world, the birth certificate of freedom.”

Inside sources tell us that the document will be handed over to President Bush, who will issue sweeping signing statements relative to the document that will make clear that the right of habeas corpus is a nullity and that the divine right of George Bush, religious leader and Supremely elected ruler of the nations, is absolute and forever.

White House spokesman Dana Perino was quoted at a press conference, “now that the President has made clear that the United States Constitution is a nullity, an all out effort will be made to insure that other historic documents that the President disagrees with will be rendered null and void, particularly the Magna Carta with its quaint and outdated definition of habeas corpus.”