Saddam 'Novel' to Be Dramatized

June 12 -- A torrid novel about doomed love, death and plunder, believed to be written by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, is set to become a 20-part television series.

Zabibah and the King (Zabibah wal Mailk), an allegorical love story of a king who falls in love with a poor woman trapped in a loveless marriage, will be produced by an Iraqi satellite channel, a Baghdad-based newspaper reported today.

In an interview with al-Thawra, television script supervisor Mizahim al-Baiati said the production process for the series had begun.

Despite the rambling prose and melodramatic plot, al-Baiati was optimistic about the show, predicting it would be a success because of the "powerful meanings and thoughts indicated in the novel."

Hot on Baghdad Bookshelves

Although the 160-page novel was published anonymously last year, the unprecedented publicity and allegorical references to Iraqi politics have led the CIA to believe the book was penned by the Iraqi leader.

Ever since Zabibah and the King appeared on Iraqi bookshelves, the novel has been the talk of the nation's intelligentsia, according to local reports.

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The lack of official criticism, especially at the frank sexual passages in the novel have raised eyebrows among many experts on Iraq and some wonder if the novel was written by Saddam's powerful "bad boy" son, Uday, who is known for his sexual exploits.

Although the jacket of the book cryptically says "a novel by its author," after a careful study of the text, CIA analysts believe Saddam's style, sentence structure and expressions were clearly present in the novel.

The Plot Thickens

But the biggest giveaway is the allegorical plot, which CIA analysts believe mirrors the Iraqi leader's values and views on the United States and the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

Zabibah and the King tells the wrenching story of Zabibah, a beautiful village girl, whom CIA analysts believe is Saddam's embodiment of the Iraqi people, who falls in love with her ruler after being callously treated by her cruel husband.