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Saddam's fairy tale
05/09/2003 07:16 - (SA)
Moscow - Zabiba and the King, a fairy tale by ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, has been translated into Russian and was presented on Thursday at the 16th Moscow International Book Fair, the publishers said.
The book, which has already been translated into Chinese and French, was published by Amfora which said it had "bought the author's rights legally from the Iraqis" before the Baghdad regime fell in April, a spokesperson said.
The philosophical tale, said to have been a "best-seller" in Iraq, tells a love story between a simple girl and the king of ancient Mesopotamia.
The story has been interpreted as an intended metaphor for the relationship between the Iraqi people and the former Iraqi dictator.
The initial print run will be 5 000, Amfora said. Sales on this scale would represent a huge success in the Russian publishing world.
- AFP
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South Africa
