The Devil's Double is an autobiographical novel by Latif Yahia who was Uday Hussein's body double.
The year is 1987 and Bagdad is the playground for the rich and infamous - where anything can be bought - but for a price. This is a country entrenched in betrayal and corruption - a hunting ground for Iraq’s Black Prince, Uday Hussein. With his depraved lust for debauchery and immorality - he helps himself to whatever turns him on. Your Ferrari, your wife, your daughter, your blood - no body says no to Uday Hussein and lives to tell the tale. When army lieutenant, Latif Yahia (Dominic Cooper), is summoned from the frontline to Saddam’s palace - he is faced with an impossible request - to be Uday’s ‘fiday’ - his body double, or have his family condemned to death. With his life on the line, his fate is decided.
Latif begins his journey as Uday Hussein, one of Iraq’s most powerful and hated men. He learns to walk, talk and look like him - and he experiences the extravagance of Uday’s world with its fast cars, endless money and easy women. For Latif knowing who to trust becomes a matter of life or death, as he battles to escape from his forced existence. Sarrab (Ludivine Sagnier), Uday’s notorious concubine is the unlikely ally who will help Latif escape from his nightmare.
In a dynamic and chilling portrayal of Latif Yahia’s autobiographical novel, THE DEVIL’S DOUBLE charts one man’s struggle in a world of violence, power and seduction.
Latif Yahia
Uday Saddam Hussein
Dominic Cooper
Ludivine Sagnier
Biography[]
Dr. Latif Yahia Author and Ph.D International Law , born June 14, 1964 is an Iraqi born author, blogger and former military officer in the Iran-Iraq War. Latif was forcibly recruited to be the body double of Saddam Hussein's elder son Uday Hussein.[1] Latif was born to a wealthy Iraqi Sunni father and Kurdish mother. Because of his businessman father's wealth, Latif was able to attend the best schools in Iraq in order to get a good education. While attending school at the age of 15, Latif became classmates with Uday Hussein. Latif's classmates picked up on the fact that he had a resemblance to Uday.
Latif's second series of encounters with Uday came after the Iran-Iraq war had begun. Uday, who was of legal age for military service during the war, did not volunteer to fight, nor was he conscripted into the Iraqi military.Template:Citation needed At the age of 23, his unit received a dispatch ordering Latif to report to the Presidential Palace. Upon arriving at the Palace, Latif was informed that he was to become Uday's fiday (body double) to make public appearances in the guise of Uday whenever a dangerous situation was expected. Latif initially refused to take on the dangerous job and was subsequently imprisoned in solitary confinement. After the imprisonment, Latif agreed to pose as the body double for Uday. He was trained for 6 months to imitate Uday's speech patterns and manner. He underwent surgery and dental work to make their appearances more similar.[1]
During Iraq's invasion of Kuwait Latif was used as a morale booster for the Iraqi troops, sent to Basra posing as Uday to meet with troops.[1]
When a woman Uday was interested in paid more attention to Latif, Uday shot at him, grazing him. Latif fled north, where he was captured imprisoned by Kurdish rebels, being mistaken for Uday. Eventually his captors realized that he was not Uday, and he was released and granted asylum in Austria in 1992.[1]
From the inside flap of Yahia's The Black Hole':
Template:Quote
He settled in Ireland for a decade, but his applications for citizenship were rejected.[2][3]
In an interview with BBC News HARDtalk in 2009, Yahia called Uday Hussein "worse than a psychopath" and related an incident where Uday took "a beautiful woman and transformed her into a barely breathing hunk of meat". He added that the woman was later murdered and her body dumped.[4]
On film[]
A movie The Devil's Double directed by Lee Tamahori and starring Dominic Cooper was filmed in Malta in early 2010, and is expected to be released later in the year.[5][6]
Books[]
- I was Saddam's Son released on May 1, 1997 by Arcade Publishing Hardcover: 250 pages Co-author: Karl Wendl. (translated to German as Ich War Saddams Sohn on March 1, 2003 Although the book was published in 1997, the story received widespread media attention [7] in 2003 invasion of Iraq six years later. The book has sold over one million copies worldwide in twenty languages.
- The Devil's Double released on June 5, 2003 by Arrow Books Ltd. Paperback: 334 pages.
- The Black Hole: The Real Story of the Man Who Was Forced to Become the Double Of Saddam Hussein's Sadistic Son released on November 20, 2006 by Arcanum Publishing Paperback: 224 pages.
"The Black Hole" has been banned in Irish and US bookstores because it spotlights the CIA's policies of secret prisons and rendition in a time before 9/11.
External links[]
- Latif Yahia's Official Web site
- Latif Yahia's blog
- Latif Yahia's YouYube Channel
- Latif Yahia's twitter
- Latif Yahia's Film
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Template:Cite web
- ↑ "...the fact that he was facing criminal charges will not bode well in his efforts to stay in the country...", Niamh O'Connor, February 2003
- ↑ "Latif Yahia: Self-proclaimed peace activist. Alleged arms dealer. All-round nice guy", Eoin Butler, Mongrel Magazine – March 2007
- ↑ "Uday Hussein was 'worse than a psychopath'." BBC News. Accessed December 2, 2009.
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ [2]
- ↑ [3]