Raghad Saddam Hussein shopping her father’s book manuscript
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Raghad Saddam Hussein, the eldest daughter of Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, is said to be looking for an international publisher for a manuscript written by her father. The handwritten manuscript is a memoir, according to Al Arabiya news.
Raghad’s lawyer told the network, ‘These are the only real memoirs Saddam Hussein wrote by hand and they will be released as soon as we find a publishing house.’
Saddam Hussein served as president of Iraq from 1979 to 2003, when his government collapsed after the invasion by the United States. Hussein’s tenure, which outsiders have called a dictatorship, was characterized by extreme brutality and even genocide. He was tried and executed in 2006.
Saddam Hussein had five children with his first wife, Sajidah Talfah, who is seated next to him, above. There were two sons, Uday and Qusay (above, standing, center and second from right), and three daughters: Raghad (standing, in blue), Rana (left), and Hala (in front of Raghdad). Uday, Qusay and Qusay’s 14-year-old son were killed by American forces in 2003.
Raghad Saddam Hussein has been living in Jordan since 2003, where she, her sister Rana, and nine children were given sanctuary after her father’s government collapsed. (Hala and her mother are thought to be in exile elsewhere). Upon Raghad’s arrival in Jordan, she blamed aides for her father’s downfall, telling Al Arabiya news, ‘He was betrayed by the closest and most trusted.... They betrayed not just Saddam, but Iraq. History will condemn them.’
Al Arabiya news reports that in 2009, a 480-page Arabic language book, ‘Saddam Hussein from the American Cell: What Really Happened,’ published by a lawyer on Saddam Hussein’s defense team, was based on interviews with Hussein while he was being tried and awaiting punishment. It includes letters and poems by the former Iraqi leader. Raghad had opposed the book and some of its claims.
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-- Carolyn Kellogg
