Saddam to write his memoirs
2005-05-14 09:41
London - Ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein has decided to write his memoirs from an Iraqi jail where he is awaiting trial for more than 20 years of abuses, a British newspaper reported, quoting one of his lawyers.
Giovanni di Stefano, a member of Hussein's legal team, said Saddam decided recently to start writing about his childhood in Iraq, his early exile to Egypt and his military adventures in Iran and Kuwait, the Financial Times reported.
He will try to embarrass the great powers that once saw him as a useful buffer against the expansionist ambitions of Iran after the 1979 Islamic revolution, di Stefano was quoted as saying.
He will tell how France and Britain betrayed him by also helping Iran's Islamic republic during the 1980-1988 war with Iraq.
"There will be quite considerable detail," di Stefano was quoted as saying. "The Americans (holding him) are relaxed about it and we've seen some of the translation."
Saddam faces a number of charges of crimes against humanity for his regime's campaign against the Kurds and the brutal suppression of a Shiite Muslim uprising in 1991. No date has been set for his trial.