CAIRO, Egypt (AP) – Saddam Hussein’s latest novel contains an apparent reference to the Sept. 11 attacks and returns to his favorite theme of good vs. evil – Arabs and Muslims fighting their enemies in the West.

The first excerpt of “Get Out, You Damned” appeared Thursday in Asharq al-Awsat, a London-based Arab newspaper, which is publishing the entire work over the next several days.

The manuscript was found in the Ministry of Culture after Baghdad’s fall, indicating that it was written while Saddam was still in power.

The newspaper said it had received its copy from Saddam’s physician, Alla Bashir, who fled Iraq after the war and was believed to be in Qatar.

Ali Abdel Amir, an Iraqi writer and critic who has read the whole manuscript, said the novel was similar in style to three others attributed to Saddam. All four were signed simply: “Its author.”

Abdel Amir said “Get Out, You Damned” describes a Zionist-Christian conspiracy against Arabs and Muslims, with an Arab leading an army that invades the land of the enemy and topples one of their monumental towers, an apparent reference to the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center.

Saddam also has been credited with writing “Zabibah and the King,” “The Fortified Citadel” and “Men and a City.”



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