He called her 'Shaqraa' - the blonde. When she married another man after their youthful fling, he had her husband thrown into prison and his assets seized. His son raped her daughter when she was 15. Now, after a terrifying escape from Baghdad and months in hiding, Saddam Hussein's on-off mistress for more than 30 years has finally broken her silence.

Shaqraa, meanwhile, still spent time with Saddam. She says he wept when he was forced to withdraw from Kuwait, but that he is a man of personal courage: 'He does not fear America.' She claims he regarded the UN weapons inspectors with contempt.

She provides other insights into his character. He never reads books, she says, and despite his Islamic rhetoric, he drinks alcohol regularly. 'His goal is for his name to live for 1,000 years, as the new Arab hero, the second Saladin.'