Best Seller

Despite languishing in a prison cell, as he awaits trial, Saddam Hussein appears to have a best seller on his hands.

It is reported that in Amman's downtown bazaars, the bestselling book these days is Saddam Hussein's bootlegged novel "Get out of here, curse you!"

The book was banned by Jordan, on the grounds that it would harm relations between Jordan and Iraq.

Saddam's book tells the story of Salem, a noble Arab tribesman representing righteousness and Arab nationalism, who defeats his American and Jewish enemies.

The story tells how Salem unites divided Arab tribes in Iraq to defeat Hisquel, a foreign intruder who represents evil.

However, despite the ban, it seems that the novel has become so popular that booksellers say they can't keep up with demand.

One vendor is quoted as saying:

"We are waiting for the book to be published again. Even if it is banned I will ask for copies outside Jordan..I had it before the government banned it but after the ban more people came to look for it,".

As with any product that is banned, as soon as it is banned, people will clamour all the more for it.

Governments never learn, do they?

Portraits of Saddam smiling like a benevolent father figure are also popular in the shops of Amman.

Some regard Saddam as an Arab nationalist leader.

Joost Hiltermann, of the International Crisis Group, is quoted as saying:

"There is a lot of unhappiness in Jordan about what is going on in Iraq..The images of violence and of Saddam in his underpants have reinforced the notion that the US war is illegal and that Americans are in Iraq to humiliate Arabs."