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In 1987, Latif Yahia was taken to Saddam's headquarters to meet Uday, Saddam's eldest son, and told that a great honour has been bestowed upon him: that because of the great likeness between them, he had been chosen to be Uday's double. For many Iraquis, it would have been the highlight of their lives, but for Latif, a peace-loving man who did not agree with Saddam's brutal regime, it was not. He refused. Following a week of torture and realising he would be killed if he continued to refuse, Latif was forced to accept the role. After a gruesome training programme during which he was made to watch over thirty films of torture, hours of tapes of Uday, and undertake a final remodelling of his appearance, Latif was deemed ready. But it was only after the final test, a meeting with Saddam himself, that Latif made his first public appearance. And so began his life as Uday's double - a life on the perimeter of the inner circle of Saddam's eldest son, a witness to the horror of his insane life of debauchery, excess and brutality, and an experience for which he almost paid with his life on more than one occasion. THE DEVIL’S DOUBLE: is the first of 3 autobiographical books chronicling Latif Yahia’s incredible life story. It vividly describes how Latif was forced to become Uday Hussein’s ‘fidai’ (body double) and gives a unique insight into the extreme extravagance and cruelty of the Saddam regime. Latif survived assassination attempts and witnessed Uday’s psychotic temper, rapes, orgy parties, torture atrocities, and sadistic murders. The book has recently been made into a highly acclaimed movie. THE BLACK HOLE: gives a fascinating account of what happened to Latif in Europe after he escaped from Iraq. How he was treated by western governments and the CIA. How Uday sought revenge on Latif and vice-versa. How he was offered a British passport by Saudis to murder a dissident and how they beheaded Latif’s Saudi princess lover. How Latif made and lost a fortune. How he strived in vain for a peaceful life and survived 4 more assassination attempts. Forty Shades of Conspiracy: brings Latif’s story right up to date by detailing his time in Ireland. His run-ins with drug-dealers, Corrupt Irish Garda officers and Irish politicians who continually denied him Irish citizenship. His despair as a beggar on the streets and the happiness he found after he met the love of his life. His reaction to Uday and Saddam’s deaths and his opinion on the current political situation in Iraq all makes fascinating reading. Book Description: In 1987, Latif Yahia was taken to Saddam's headquarters to meet Uday, Saddam's eldest son, and told that a great honour had been bestowed upon him: that because of the great likeness between them, he had been chosen to be Uday's double. For many Iraqis it would have been the highlight of their lives, but for Latif, a peace-loving man who did not agree with Saddam's brutal regime, it was not. He refused. Following a week of torture, and realising he would be killed if he continued to refuse, Latif was forced to accept the role. After a gruesome training programme during which he was made to watch over thirty films of torture, hours of tapes of Uday, and undertake a final remodelling of his appearance, Latif was deemed ready. But it was only after the final test, a meeting with Saddam himself, that Latif made his first public appearance. And so began his life as Uday's double - a life on the perimeter of the inner circle of Saddam's eldest son, a witness to the horror of his insane life of debauchery, excess and brutality, and an experience for which he almost paid with his life on more than one occasion. A note from the Author : This book was written in 1992, originally it was 1,000 pages long with even more facts and details than contained in the pages herein, because of it's size the original publisher trimmed it down to the 300 or so pages that it is today. After the fall of Saddam Hussein and his regime in 2003 the facts in this book were confirmed. Many of Uday Hussein's employees found new masters over the years since my flight from Iraq, some work for the US intelligence services, some for the UK, but no matter how they may try to discredit me and my story the facts remain and as you now know I had already put them on paper in 1992, eleven years before the regime fell. I did not have a crystal ball to know all these things, I knew them because I was there, that was my life. Uday's employees have admitted in the Western media to being Pimps for him, they also admit to working as spies against him for the US and the UK intelligence services in return for citizenship of the respective country, what I ask is this, If a man is willing to sell women to a man that he knows to be a sadist, if he is willing to sell his country and himself, is it not then conceivable that he will sell his soul and say anything for money? I have paid a high price for my refusal to co-operate with the intelligence services, the CIA in particular, after twenty years in the West I am still stateless, I cannot return to Iraq because the new Government consider me a colaborator of the Hussein regime, although while they were in oppossition to Saddam they found my book to be a useful tool against him and his regime. Saddam while in power considered me a traitor. I do not regret my decision to leave Iraq or write my story, but I have not found the Western governments to be as open and democratic as they were portrayed to us in the Middle-East. In my search for a new counry to call home, I have found that those whose story is a fabrication are given the protection of the state as they are no threat, money is their only goal in life so they will not rock the boat', while I, who have an opinion and voice it openly (that is probably my biggest problem) am ignored, refused and while not told to leave am not made especially welcome either, I am tolerated. I do not nor did I ever seek fame, I have not made money from my story and if I do it will go to charity. It amuses me how the tables turn, when Saddam was in power my book was held up in the US Congress and given as a reason for Saddam's removal, now that Saddam is gone those that once used my story for their benefit have tried to denounce me, I have been interviewed by the world's biggest and best names over 1,800 TV, Print and Radio, journalist's who do their research and know who to ask for opinion, the old guard who took pride in their work and valued their reputation. While there are still some true journalists out there many work to order if their editor wants a specific story they make it, true or not, there is no oversight. Although it was never my intention, this book has been used as propaganda for the War on Iraq, my intention when I wrote it was to open the eyes of the world to the horrors and atrocities committed by the regime and to spur the Iraqi people into action. It will always disturb me that the Iraqi people never had a chance to participate in The Arab Spring and depose Saddam and his regime themselves, It may be a very different place today if they had had the chance to do so. Best regards to all, Latif Yahia .
