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| Britain |
| Ex-Double for Uday in Trouble |
| 2003-04-02 |
| Edited for length, this has to qualify as one of the worlds worst jobs. A former double of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's feared elder son Uday said on Wednesday he was treated "like dirt" by immigration officers who refused him entry to Britain at the weekend. "Honestly, I never had this before," 39-year-old Latif Yahia, who survived nine assassination attempts while impersonating Uday, said of his detention at Birmingham airport after arrival from Germany. Uday has a double? Like father, like son I guess. "At the beginning, they treated me like a piece of dirt. The police came, they were very suspicious," Yahia said, speaking by telephone from Dublin. He fled Iraq in 1991 and now lives in the Republic of Ireland where he runs a detective agency. Yahia, Private Eye After a seven-hour wait in Birmingham, Yahia was denied permission to fly to the Northern Ireland capital Belfast, where he missed a scheduled appearance on a TV chat-show, so he flew back to the Irish Republic. Britain's Home Office confirmed the case, saying Yahia was held "for a few hours" because he did not have the right papers to enter Britain. "I am not aware of any allegations," a spokeswoman said of Yahia's claims of verbal abuse. As well as immigration problems, the Iraq war has revived unwelcome memories for Yahia of his traumatic four-year stint as a double, for which he was given new teeth and plastic surgery. In his autobiography "I Was Saddam's Son," and in past interviews, Yahia describes how, after being forcibly recruited for the job due to his similar features, he was made to watch videos of rapes and tortures to toughen him up to be like Uday. Saddam's elder son is widely accused by Western nations, Iraqi exiles and human rights groups of brutal abuses, including torturing Iraq's football team if they lost. Posing for Uday on occasions deemed to be risky, Yahia said he survived nine assassination attempts and witnessed many atrocities. Once, Uday shot him in the shoulder. Tough boss "It wasn't easy for me when I came to Europe to get over it all," he added. "It took me five-and-a-half years of counseling, psychologists, doctors and medication." Around Europe, where he has lived in various parts, Yahia says he has been attacked four times and constantly dogged by Iraqi secret services who "work everywhere." In Austria, there was an attempt to shoot him and bomb his car. In London, in an attack he attributes to Iraqi opposition exiles, there was another shooting attempt. And in Norway, he said, "they stabbed me in the stomach." A really bad retirement plan. Understandably, Yahia has vehement views about Saddam. But, perhaps more surprisingly for some, he is equally vehement in condemning the war on Iraq and says he would return to fight against American and British troops if he could. What's stopping you? War should not be waged on the whole country due to one man, Yahia said. "Iraq is my country and it is called the Republic of Iraq not the Republic of Saddam Hussein." Get back on your meds, Yahia. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #2 There's a freaking world war on, and this loser thinks we give a darn about his snivels. Hey Yahia, we care as much about you as you cared about the people in those tapes. Drop dead, maybe your mother will care - then again, maybe not. |
| Posted by: becky 2003-04-02 13:25:51 |
| #1 Is everybody over there insane? Or doing a good impression of insane? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-04-02 13:12:28 |