Two new novels, rumored to have been written by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein are due to hit the shelves later this year, the official Iraqi News Agency (INA) has reported.
INA issued a brief statement saying the author of two "anonymous" books that had been previously released in Iraq is set to produce two more books for distribution later in 2002, but provided no further details.
The statement, however, apparently referred to books written by an anonymous author, who many Iraqis believed was Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
"Zabibah and the King", released in the year 2000, was one of the two books.
Publicity for "Zabibah and the King" was intense, with media, television and radio advertisements appearing for days before the novel reached bookstores.
The anonymous author, according to a statement on the book's back cover, donated proceeds from book sales to "the poor, orphans, needy, and charity organizations."
The story unfolded in the novel is about a king who falls in love with a poor married woman named Zabibah. Other kings are jealous of his close ties with the common people, as symbolized by his love for Zabibah, causing them to plot against him.
Zabibah is eventually killed and raped on January 17th, the anniversary of the start of the 1991 Gulf War that forced Iraq to reverse its invasion of Kuwait. No ordinary writer could have made such a reference to that date, Iraqi readers claim.
The majority of Iraqis believe that Saddam Hussein is "Zabibah and the King's" mysterious author, according to AP.
US intelligence officials reportedly believe that if the Iraqi President didn't write it, he at least closely supervised its production. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is believed to have studied the novel thoroughly for any insight into Saddam Hussein’s political thinking. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
