Saddam’s Years

Description

For more than fifteen years, Saman Abdul Majeed served as President Saddam Hussein’s personal interpreter for English and French, as well as the head of the presidential press office. He also served Uday, the president’s eldest son. These roles granted him access to approximately one hundred meetings held at the presidential palace or the president’s private residence in Tikrit.
He was, therefore, a witness to both formal and informal conversations involving politicians—such as Jean-Pierre Chevènement, Jean-Marie Le Pen, and Yevgeny Primakov—journalists—including Christine Ockrent, Patrick Poivre d’Arvor, and Dan Rather—and diplomats arriving from Paris, the Vatican, the Kremlin, and the White House.
Saman Abdul Majeed remained in President Saddam’s service until the fall of Baghdad, making him a key insider who witnessed the collapse of the regime and the disarray of its loyalists as they found themselves lost, with every door closed to them. His account, rich in secrets from behind the scenes of the Iraqi dictatorship, offers the reader a deeper understanding of the character of President Saddam Hussein.
Furthermore, he provides answers to many long-standing mysteries: whether President Saddam had one or several body doubles; the personal ties certain Western figures maintained with Baghdad; Iraq’s financial support for various Third World leaders; the secret mediation by an envoy of Bill Clinton; the private dialogue with Kofi Annan; and the eventual rift with France.
*Saddam’s Years* stands as a unique document chronicling an era defined by political maneuvering and crises.