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Saddam's secrets in a book?
26/02/2007 14:35 - (SA)
Amman - Saddam Hussein's Iraqi lawyer said he will write a book revealing "many secrets" told to him by the executed dictator about the fall of Baghdad, his arrest and his imprisonment.
Khalil al-Dulaimi said: "The book will contain information never before revealed and many secrets about the fall of Baghdad.
"It will contain letters, poems and other texts handwritten by Saddam while the rest will be stories he revealed to me during more than 140 interviews in jail."
According to Dulaimi the book will be more than 500 pages long and "could be out in a year".
"I am still collecting the material before writing it and finding a publisher," he said.
The Iraqi dictator was hanged in Baghdad on December 30, a month after being convicted of crimes against humanity for the killing of 148 Shi'ite civilians.
He was captured by US troops in December 2003, eight months after the fall of Baghdad, in a hole on a farm near his hometown of Tikrit, and jailed in a US-run prison at Baghdad airport.
Many visits to jail
Dulaimi said he met Saddam 140 times in jail, including 70 times alone, and "wrote down every single word he told me" about the fall of Baghdad, his life in jail and his views on the future of Iraq.
The book will reveal details about Saddam's participation in a battle with US troops that took place at Baghdad airport and his reportedly contested relationship with his deputy Taha Yassin Ramadan, in the days preceding the fall of Baghdad.
"The president was taking part in the airport battle and Taha Yassin Ramadan did not want him to be caught in the crossfire," he added.
Ramadan was sentenced to death earlier this month for the Dujail killings.
Untold secrets
"There are secrets about the fall of Baghdad which no one knows about yet," said Dulaimi.
During his encounters in Saddam's prison cell, Dulaimi said he took extensive notes: "There were no audio tapes but I wrote down every single word he said.
"He told me about the conditions surrounding his arrest.
"Most people believe that the American version of the arrest is the truth, particularly the story about the hole they said they found him hiding in.
"The story is somewhat different. This is one of the secrets that will be revealed in the book."
Saddam was a prolific writer and is known to have written several books and poems.
Memoirs of a defence team
Another of his lawyers, Jordanian attorney Ziad Najdawi, said the defence team, which has since been dissolved, was mulling plans to write their memoirs about the trial that led to Saddam's execution.
He said: "You will discover the depth of the injustice and the farce and the depth of the American aggression against the Arab and Muslim nation."
- AFP
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