Saddam's novels penned by ghost writers

The overthrow of Saddam Hussain not only ended the Iraqi leader's political career but snuffed out his literary aspirations as well.

Saddam's last novel Get Out of Here, Curse You! – was about to go on sale when U.S. and British forces invaded Iraq on March 20. It never saw the light of day.

"This was his fourth book. It was written sometime in 2002," said Ali Abdel Amir, a writer who has analysed Saddam's books.

But Abdel Amir said Saddam did not write the books himself but got a committee from the Information and Culture Ministry to do it for him.

"Saddam would record the outlines of his novel on a tape recorder and palace employees would transcribe it and give it to the committee, whose members included a number of writers and intellectuals," Abdel Amir said.

"They would write the novel and return it to Saddam. It would go back and forth until the novel got his approval." Signed "a book by its writer", Saddam's nom de plume, his latest novel was stored in the Information Ministry ready for distribution but then war began. Only a few copies survived U.S. bombs and Iraqi looters.

His first book was a novel called Zabiba and the King, which sold well in 2000 and was later made into a musical. Saddam's autobiography is entitled Men and a City.

Despite the large team working on the novels, Abdel Aziz said, they were not literary masterpieces. "I found that Saddam's books showed he had a deep sense of individualism, he used stereotypes, was shallow. Women were always unfaithful and were either Kurds or Iranians," he said.

His latest book is heavily allegorical and tells the story of Salem, a noble Arab tribesman who represents righteousness and Arab nationalism, and defeats his American and Jewish enemies. "Saddam of course is Salem," Abdel Amir said.

The tale describes how Salem unites divided Arab tribes in Iraq to defeat Hisquel, a foreign intruder who represents greed, evil, and filth but who is extremely attractive to women.

Abdel Amir said the description of Salem's victory was meant to echo the September 11 attacks.

The destruction of the United States and Israel came with the burning of two towers by Salem's men and then the collapse of the towers that represent the two states' wealth and power.

"Here, Saddam imports the pictures of the suicide attacks on New York's World Trade Center buildings and the collapse of the two towers," Abdel Amir said.

Saddam's last novel shows his skewed depiction of women, limiting their role to satisfying men's sexual desires, and portraying them as deceptive, either cheating on their husbands or harbouring thoughts of betrayal.

The poor quality of the books did not prevent hundreds of Iraqi newspaper and magazine articles praising them in glowing terms. "Writers did not dare do otherwise," Abdel Amir said. "Who would dare criticise his work and stay alive?"

The final draft of Saddam's first novel, Zabiba and the King, was penned by the writer Sami Mohammad, who months later died in mysterious circumstances, Abdel Amir said.