Saddam's novel a bestseller despite ban
By Ibon Villelabeitia
Fri Jul 1,
AMMAN (Reuters) - Move over Harry Potter. In Amman's downtown bazaars, the bestselling book these days is Saddam Hussein's bootlegged novel "Get out of here, curse you!"
Banned by Jordan on the grounds the 186-page tale of an Arab tribesman who defeats foreign invaders could harm relations between Jordan and Iraq, Saddam's latest novel has become so popular booksellers say they can't keep up with demand.
"We had copies but they sold out after the book was banned," the owner of a kiosk in a busy Amman street told Reuters.
"We are waiting for the book to be published again. Even if it is banned I will ask for copies outside Jordan," said the vendor, who like most of those interviewed asked for his name not to be published.
"I had it before the government banned it but after the ban more people came to look for it," said another vendor, whose shop stands in a narrow alley where old men dressed in white robes fingered beads and drank tea.
"It's a very popular book here."
Saddam, who faces war crimes charges, is a popular figure in some quarters in Jordan, where -- like the ousted dictator -- the large majority of people are Sunni Muslims. There is also a large exile Iraqi community living here.
Portraits of Saddam smiling like a benevolent father figure are sold in some shops in gritty downtown Amman, where most residents are of Palestinian descent, next to pictures of Jordan's King Abdullah, a close U.S. ally.
Images of daily bloodshed in neighboring Iraq and reports of abuses of detainees at U.S.-run prisons have whipped up anti-American sentiment in the kingdom, where some regard Saddam as an Arab nationalist leader, analysts said.
"There is a lot of unhappiness in Jordan about what is going on in Iraq," said Joost Hiltermann, of the International Crisis Group.
"The images of violence and of Saddam in his underpants have reinforced the notion that the U.S. war is illegal and that Americans are in Iraq to humiliate Arabs."
Government censors can axe books in Jordan, but the ban has played into the hands of Saddam, credited with writing other works including "Zabiba and the King" and "Men and a City."
"You can't ban books in Jordan anymore. We have satellite and Internet," said vendor Hassan Abu Ali. "If I find copies I will sell thousands."
Believed to have been penned before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, the book tells the story of Salem, a noble Arab tribesman representing righteousness and Arab nationalism, who defeats his American and Jewish enemies.
The tale describes how Salem unites divided Arab tribes in Iraq to defeat Hisquel, a foreign intruder who represents evil. |
