For 235 days, farmer Alaa Namuq managed to keep the world’s most wanted man hidden.
At the same time as Alaa kept the former president of Iraq hidden in a tiny earth hole, 150,000 American soldiers hunted for him.
While the hunt was going on, Alaa Namuq was Saddam’s bodyguard, cook, driver, hairdresser, adviser – and finally friend.
Abuse as a means
Saddam Hussein was President of Iraq from 1979 to 2003.
– DICTATOR: For 24 years, Saddam Hussein ruled Iraq with an iron fist. Photo: AP
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Under his regime, any opposition was crushed, often with unimaginable abuse as a means.
Under Saddam’s rule, his Ba’athist regime ordered deserters from the army to have their ears cut off, currency smugglers sentenced to death, and prostitutes to be beheaded.
A spy for the United States, who was taken a few weeks before the invasion began, had his tongue cut off before he was killed.
The turning point
The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait marked a turning point in US attitudes toward Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq.
From then on, Iraq was seen as an enemy of the United States and its allies in the Middle East.
In the spring of 2003, the United States invaded Iraq, under the pretext that its dictator Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and contact with al-Qaeda.
The allegations lacked documentation and subsequently proved to be incorrect.
In March 2003, Hussein’s regime was overthrown by an invading force, led mainly by American and British troops.
– The medical examiner of the dictator was published after he was found in a hole in the ground in December 2003. Photo: Reuters
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Saddam Hussein left his headquarters in Baghdad and remained in hiding until he was found in a hole in the ground in December 2003 and captured by US special forces.
Ended up in the gallows
When the first trial against Saddam Hussein opened at the end of 2005, the dictator’s will to fight was still in place.
– I am the President of Iraq, he claimed, and said that the court was illegal.
His last move was to demand to be shot, not hanged, since he was an officer.
Saddam was sentenced to death. He was hanged in the capital, Baghdad, on December 30, 2006.
– GUILTY: During the trial in 2005, Saddam Hussein claimed that the court was illegal. Photo: AP
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Three years of building trust
Director Halkawt Mustafa, who achieved great success with the films “Red Heart” from 2011 and “El Clasico” from 2015, has always been curious about the story of the president who hid in the abyss.
– HIDDEN PLACE: Director Halkawt Mustafa at the hole in the ground where the world’s most wanted man was kept hidden. Photo: Hene Films
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For over three years, Mustafa, who also works for TV 2 Utenriks, worked to win the farmer Alaa Namuq’s trust – to be able to tell his story.
Mustafa is behind the documentary “Hiding Saddam Hussein”, in which the farmer Alaa tells for the first time his story about how he kept the secret about Saddam Hussein for 235 days.
– I started working on the film in 2010, because I have always pondered the story of the president who hid in the abyss. I have always been curious about the story behind it, and spent a lot of time finding the man, and not least getting him to tell the story, Mustafa tells TV 2.
The film “Hiding Saddam Hussein” will be on TV 2 and TV 2 Play during 2022.
$ 25 million bounty
In July 2003, Paul Bremer, who headed the US Civil Administration of Iraq, promised a $ 25 million bounty for information that could lead to the discovery of Saddam Hussein, or information and a confirmation of his death.
“It became more difficult for Alaa to keep Saddam Hussein hidden when the Americans promised a bounty of 25 million dollars,” says the director.
– DOSAGE: US Paul Bremer promised a bounty of 25 million US dollars for information that could lead to finding Saddam Hussein. Photo: Reuters
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– Alaa kept Saddam hidden from family and friends. And he did not feel he had a choice when the president knocked on his door, says director Mustafa.
Farmer Alaa was considered the village’s best hunter and that was precisely why Saddam Hussein asked him for help.
– Feels a responsibility
– Alaa says that he had no choice, that one can not say no to a president who knocked on his door and wanted help.
Alaa eventually became Saddam’s bodyguard, cook, driver, hairdresser, adviser, and eventually friend during the 235 days he kept the former president hidden.
– It was important for director Mustafa to find the human in the middle of the war and the hunt for Saddam. Photo: NTB
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– Now he feels a responsibility to tell the truth, Mustafa says. And it was important for me to find the human in this, because war can take away the human part of you. And it can take a long time to find it back, says Halkawt Mustafa.
– A unique film
The project “Hiding Saddam Hussein” has, among other things, been awarded support through the Norwegian Film Institute’s registration scholarship scheme, where the consultant describes the project as follows:
“Mustafa moves in a landscape that is poetic, at the same time as he wants to convey something about society, politics and human relations. He has good reflections on developing as a director through the challenges of the fiction film project “Hiding Saddam Hussein”, which will paint a picture of Saddam Hussein – and show a side of the man that no one has seen.
Documentary film consultant at the Norwegian Film Institute (NFI) Helle Hansen believes director Halkawt Mustafa has gained a unique access to the farmer who hid Saddam Hussein for eight months, before American soldiers found the hiding place.
– This unique film gives the word to the farmer for the first time, and tells what happened, how it happened and why he chose to help Saddam, Hansen says.
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