Saddam novel banned

Amman, Jordan

Jordanian censors this week banned a new novel said to have been written by Saddam Hussein, just days before it was scheduled to be published. Get Out of Here, Curse You!, which tells the story of an Arab tribesman who defeats a foreign invader, was reportedly written shortly before the U.S.–led invasion of Iraq. Jordanian officials initially okayed a publisher’s request to release the book in Jordan, but they backtracked this week, saying the book could harm relations with Iraq’s new government. Saddam was reputed to be the author of several other novels, including the popular Zabiba and the King, the story of a young girl, symbolizing Iraq, who loves her noble and protective monarch. But after Saddam’s ouster, some Iraqi intellectuals said the books were ghost-written.

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