Didn't know Saddam was a writer

[Vympel]

Saddam's new novel on underground struggle
09.06.2003 [17:24]


Deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had written a new novel but the US-led invasion of Iraq prevented its publication.

A copy of the manuscript called "The Great Awakening" has been obtained by the Iraq Press.

In it, Saddam seems to be alluding to his humiliating defeat at the hands of the US, and his disappearance to mount underground struggle to regain former glory. If printed, the novel would be the fifth book, thought to be written by Saddam.

Officials at the now dissolved Ministry of Information say, Saddam was quite keen to have his new book printed before the start of the war. But he was not so lucky.

The plot is based on waging a secret war from a neighbouring Arab state, following a decision by the novel's main character to step down as the President.

Turning into a fugitive, the hero, Bahloul, tries to recruit supporters and partisans in a bid to bounce back to limelight.

Reading the manuscript, one is tempted to believe that Saddam may have predicted his ouster from power and recourse to underground resistance.

Hundreds of thousands of copies of his fourth novel,"Leave Her, You the Devil" were printed and readied for distribution before the start of the US-led war to remove him from power.

But the quick fall of Baghdad to US troops on April 9 prevented the authorities from distributing them too.

Like his other books, the manuscript appears under a pseudonym.

But the books' widespread official promotion and reviews have left no doubt about their real author.

Saddam's fall from power has led to speculation inside and outside Iraq that certain Arab writers helped him with the plot and style.

"Zabiba and the King", thought to be Saddam's debut, tells the story of a monarch who avenges a woman's honour after she is raped the day US-led forces launched the 1991 Gulf War. The book was adapted for the stage and performed in Baghdad in 2003.

The Ministry of Education wanted to teach Saddam's first three novels in Iraqi schools from the start of the next academic year. The novels -"Zabiba and the King", "The Fortified Castle" and "Men and a City", would have been included in the school curriculum.

The books were to be distributed among the country's millions of schoolchildren.

In its circular to make the books a part of school curriculum, the Ministry said it wanted all schools in Iraq to conduct debates on the content of the three novels so that students can develop creative and critical thinking.

[HemlockGrey]

I notice it didn't say he was a good writer.

[Sea Skimmer]

I’ve heard this before, it was a slow day for NBC. Evidently his books where not all that bad, though it is thought he got a lot of help.

[Peregrin Toker]

I?ve heard this before, it was a slow day for NBC. Evidently his books where not all that bad, though it is thought he got a lot of help.

So that's what John Norman's doing when not working on "(insert noun) of Gor."