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Saddam well, working in Baghdad
09/08/2003 10:44 - (SA)
Baghdad - Saddam Hussein is alive and well in Baghdad and allowing his photograph to be taken with US troops.
But unlike his namesake - the former Iraqi president ousted by US-led troops in early April - 31-year-old Saddam works as an ambulanceman out of the capital's Al-Iskan hospital, where the dead and wounded from Thursday's car bombing at the Jordanian embassy were taken.
"Contrary to what one might think, to be called Saddam during Saddam's rule was not good," he said.
"I was even put in prison for four months in 1993 because I asked my friends to call me Ismael instead of Saddam."
While the family of the ousted leader hails from the Sunni Muslim bastion of Tikrit north of Baghdad, the ambulanceman comes from a Shiite family in southern Iraq.
His father, Ali Hussein, said his son's name was chosen "by chance" before Saddam became president.
"When US soldiers see my name on my badge, they ask to have their photos taken with me. Of course, I do this with good grace," the young Saddam said.
The assailants behind the Jordanian embassy car bombing were "Saddam loyalists, former secret service agents. I hope they catch Saddam," he said of his namesake.
- AFP
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