AFP AND OWN CORRESPONDENT, Baghdad | Monday
IRAQI President Saddam Hussein has taken delivery of a copy of the Koran he ordered written in his own blood to thank God for escaping unscathed from his long political career.
The special edition of the Koran, the Muslim holy book, took three years to finish and was handed over to Saddam during a ceremony at the weekend at the Dar al-Nasser presidential palace in Baghdad, local newspapers reported.
The Iraqi leader commissioned the work in 1997 for his 60th birthday to thank God for having escaped unharmed from “a life full of dangers, during which I will have lost a lot of blood.”
The press gave no indication how much blood Saddam provided for the team of Iraqi religious leaders and calligraphers to complete the work.
However, Ezzat Ibrahim, vice president of the Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council, told papers: “You can imagine the quantity of blood required for the holy book, which comprises 6_ 666 verses and 336_ 000 words!”
Saddam, head of the ruling Baath party since his accession to power in 1979, has projected a more religious image since the 1991 Gulf War, promoting steps to develop Islam in Iraq, such as building mosques and banning alcohol in restaurants and hotels.
Under his rule, Iraq has been in two major conflicts, the 1980-88 war with Iran, which left almost 1m dead, and the Gulf War, which ended with Iraqi troops expelled from Kuwait after a seven-month occupation by a US-led coalition force. – AFP