IRISH PASSPORTS, ASSASSINS ONLY NEED APPLY.

By: Latif Yahia

www.latifyahia.com

In recent days we have seen a huge diplomatic scandal explode; the use of European passports by alleged Mossad agents in the death squad sent to kill Hamas member Mahmoud al- Mabhouh on January 20, 2010 in his Dubai hotel room.

It is not the first time that Mossad has used this ploy and probably won’t be the last, other examples are the use of British passports in 1987, Canadian passports in 1997 and New Zealanders passports in 2004, but among the British and French passports used in the 20/01/2010 mission were Irish passports.

When the news broke it didn’t really surprise me, Mossad and Hamas have had a long and brutal relationship and both sides will go to any lengths to win, Britain and France are truly multi-cultural countries and have very established minority (although some would challenge the term minority) communities. So to attempt to portray oneself as British or French while not being as milky as ball of buffalo mozzarella is not difficult, the Irish however have managed to maintain their milky-ness as it is only in the last 15-20 years that they have truly experienced an upsurge in immigration.

When I arrived in Dublin in late 1997, I was easily spotted in the street, something that would work in reverse in London or Paris. In those days I was happy to stand out, it meant that there were not a lot of Arabs, but more importantly Iraqis in Ireland.

Having fled continental Europe from the long reach of Saddam, Uday and the regime that had been able to reach me as far away from Baghdad as London, Dublin seemed thankfully distant from it all. Life became relatively quiet for me and I was grateful.

So then, why am I writing this article? Well I did say life was “relatively” quiet for me in Ireland, I have never been one to see something wrong and shut my mouth, if I had then I probably would have died by Uday’s side or instead of him in the villa, a good little body-double to the end. So what really irks me about this whole passport situation is it is not the first time that the wrong people have gotten their hands on something that the Irish government tell me is valuable!

To give you a feel for my frustration I am giving you an excerpt from one (of many) letters that I have received from the dept of Justice regarding my own application for Naturalization

“ applications for naturalization must be processed in a way which preserves the necessary checks and balances to ensure that IT IS NOT UNDERVALUED AND IS ONLY GIVEN TO PEOPLE WHO GENUINELY SATISFY THE NECESSARY QUALIFYING CRITERIA.”

Okay, I know what you’re thinking, what has my citizenship application got to do with Mossad agents with Irish passports. Well, more than you might think, I am presently on my third application for citizenship and of course if they ever decide after the three years that I am waiting to give me an answer in the negative, I will indeed pack my bags and turn my back on the only country that has felt like home in my19 years outside Iraq. I could go on about having an Irish wife, kids etc but that’s another article.

My point here is that as far as I am concerned the Irish don’t value their passport because if they did then they wouldn’t give citizenship to people like Bahaa al-Araji a member of the Iraqi Parliament representing Al-Sadr party (for those of you unfamiliar with Iraqi politics, it is like Sinn Fein being the political wing of the IRA but I wouldn’t want to give the IRA a bad name) and the Head of Law in the present Iraqi government, someone who openly in the media said ‘fuck the Irish, I got what I wanted and so what if I used a fake name” if you were to ask him why he used a fake name I’m sure he would use the tried and tested ‘for my safety’ line, I have used this line, I will not deny it, but I meant it and have several scars to prove that I was under threat and barely escaped. Less about me, more about Bahaa al-Araji, he was unknown to the Iraqi opposition before 2003, he was a corrupt lawyer in Iraq but never actually went to court because he couldn’t get clients no matter how much he tried to undercut his contemporaries fees. He lived in Dublin on social welfare and drove his Nissan Micra, after the fall of Saddam he started to buy up properties in Dublin and it may be an exaggeration but only a small one, for me to say that he owns a quarter of the property in Dublin’s City centre. He now drives a bullet and bomb proof Mercedes around Dublin on his visits and also owns property in London and Dubai. Just for your own information his brother Hazim al-Araji a Shi’ite fundamentalist is a Canadian citizen and has openly declared that ‘all Sunnis should be killed’, he is the right hand man of Muqtada al-Sadr who is the commander of the al-Sadr militia, which is supported by Iran. But where are the Irish officials in the midst of all this, are they happy that they gave their valuable passport to Bahaa?

I suppose I was shocked at the response of the Irish Minister for foreign affairs Mr. Micheal Martin when questioned on radio and television about the use of Irish passports by Mossad, he seemed speechless firstly (typical of the Irish politician, eh.. ummm.. well…), and then after calling upon the Israeli envoy to Ireland Zion Evrony, stated that he ‘had nothing useful to tell Ireland’, embarrassing? I would think so.

The case continues..

While I am on the subject of Iraqis seeking refuge can I just say that pre 2003 there were a lot of Shi’ite Muslims coming out of Iraq looking for sanctuary, Saddam was an equal opportunities Dictator, he terrorized all equally, you got in his way he ran over you Shi’ite, Sunni or Kurd. After the fall of Saddam all Iraqis got themselves new ID, one with a Sunni name, the other with a Shi’ite name so they could produce identification to whichever side they encountered. But it is still mainly the Shi’ite that arrive in Europe, many now claiming that they are Sunni, because they are more likely to achieve refugee status. This is a very dangerous situation for Europe, the Shi’ite are backed by Iran, since 2003 the population of Iraq has grown immensely, when you take into consideration how many people have been killed, are refugees in Iraq, outside Iraq or have disappeared for the population to go from 20 million in the 90’s with war and sanctions to 32 million now, you have to ask, where did they all come from? The answer is easy, Iran. I have mentioned sleeper cells before, I am not a scaremonger, they exist.

In the early to mid-nineties a doctor called Abu Hasan came to Ireland, he practiced as a doctor in one of the hospitals in Dublin until the day he realized that there was no Shi’ite mosque, realizing the potential in this he laid down his stethoscope, dressed himself in clerical robes and headed to Iran. There he received funding to open a shi’ite Mosque, he then bought land and built a block of apartments supposedly in the name of the mosque in one of the most expensive areas in Dublin and went about renting them out to refugees, He enlisted many of the patrons of his mosque and they have become his eyes and ears in Irish government departments. Most notably Basim, he is abu Hasan’s eyes and ears in the department of Justice, as an interpreter he meets nearly every Arab that seeks asylum in Ireland and knows every Immigration officer personally, each case is reported to abu Hasan and then to Iran. Those whom he has not been in the interview room with usually come to him freely later on, as he is advertised in the Arabic community as ‘the go to guy’ for citizenship applications and refugee status, whether he purports it or someone does it for him, for 500 euros he supposedly puts your application in front of someone that will ‘do the job’. Obviously I have never tried him, it is not my level, maybe I should have, I may have had more luck! Again, Abu Hasan and Basim are both Irish citizens, as are most of the Arabs that attend Abu Hasan’s Mosque. I’m sure that they don’t undervalue the Irish passport.

There have been many passport scandals in Ireland dating back to when Mr Haughey was in charge, Charles Haughey (ex Irish Prime Minister) was an open book, he made no secret of his ducking and diving. But even the Irish had enough when he sold passports to rich Arabs for 1,000,000 Irish pounds each. Since then passports have been sold to rich Russians, manufactured by entrepreneurial Nigerians and now ‘faked’ by assassins.

There seemed to be a difference between the passports used from Britain, France, Ireland, Germany and now Australia, but it seems that they were existing passports with the wrong photos everything else was perfect, as far as I can discern the passports were older technology, in the case of the Irish passports issued at the latest in 2004. In 2005 the holographic page with biometrics was introduced making it difficult to forge. How do I know this? Well as I said earlier, Irish wife and kids.

Having spent the best part of thirteen years in Ireland I used to (and still do) become frustrated at the people who attain Irish citizenship, I found it mind bending that these people who couldn’t speak English, didn’t work and claimed social welfare for the whole time they were in the country were being sent out letters saying “Congratulations, welcome, new Irish citizen” while I was being refused, without reason I may add. I used to think, ‘these people aren’t right for the country’ but now I know that it’s not them that is unsuitable for Ireland it is me, for I have seen enough now to admit that if it’s a million euros they want for it, or they are happy with forgers and frauds then I don’t want to be Irish. In a country that links itself to the famous and powerful like the woman that used to baby-sit the cousin of someone who’s famous, Mohammed Ali, Barack and Michelle Obama being the latest with Irish links, I think I’ll take my chances elsewhere.

Soon enough my movie The Devil’s Double will be in the cinemas and we’ll see who’s doing the running then.

Best regards,
Dr.Latif Yahia.

“This is a gangster movie, really,” says director Lee Tamahori

Currently shooting in Malta, The Devil’s Double tells the story of Saddam Hussein’s son Uday and his body-double Latif Yahia.

By: Leon Forde.
“This is a gangster movie, really,” says director Lee Tamahori, who wraps the film on April 10. “The story we’re telling is one of criminals operating with unbelievable amounts of money and grandeur and opulence and doing whatever the hell they like and getting away with it. And it’s also the story of an innocent, being thrust into it and forced – upon pain of death or the death of his entire family – to do something that he’d rather not do.”
Written by Michael Thomas (Backbeat) the action drama pulls no punches in its depiction of the brutality and debauchery that surrounded Uday, Saddam’s eldest son who was killed by US troops in 2003. “Even organised criminals have police that will chase them down. That wasn’t the case – this man could absolutely do whatever he wanted,” says Paul Breuls, producer of the film with Michael John Fedun, Catherine Vandeleene and Emjay Rechsteiner. Harris Tulchin is executive producer.
Power and corruption is central to the film, says Breuls. “All the rest – Saddam, his party and the war – it’s just a backdrop.”
Set in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the film stars Dominic Cooper as both Uday and his body-double. “He’s an unbelievably gifted actor,” Tamahori says of Cooper. “He’s just transformed himself into the son of Saddam Hussein – he looks hallucinatingly accurate.” The dual roles are a challenge, says Tamahori, but Cooper is “physically and mentally up for it, and he’s young and energetic.”
Ludivine Sagnier is playing Uday’s concubine in the film, based on the books by Yahia.
The $15m film is produced by Breuls’ Antwerp-based outfit Corsan. The company financed 50% of The Devil’s Double through its tax fund – set up under Belgium’s tax shelter system for corporate investors from the territory – with the remainder from Corsan and its equity partners. The Devil’s Double is the fifth film produced by Corsan under this model, with Roland Joffe’sSingularity set to shoot in India this summer. The company’s sales arm, Corsan World Sales, debuted The Devil’s Double at Berlin.
The production scouted locations in Jordan, Tunisia and Morocco before opting for Malta, which offers an incentive of up to 22% of eligible expenditure to be obtained as a cash rebate. “The Malta [incentive] is tried and trusted and solid, and it’s the EU and it’s Euro-driven and it’s very established,” Breuls explains. “And then you marry it to the fact Malta has a good infrastructure, that it has experienced crews.”

The Devil’s Double is largely using locations on the island, with a couple of weeks on stages built by the production in a rented warehouse. There will also be CG work to create the Baghdad palaces. Tamahori is shooting on the RED HD camera. “I’m very much a convert to new digital formats,” the director says. “I’ve shot commercials on the RED. I haven’t shot a feature on it but I like it a lot.”

NZ director tackles Iraqi tale

Yahoo!Xtra

Kiwi director Lee Tamahori is back at work in Malta on his latest movie.

The 'Once Were Warriors' helmsman is on location for new action drama, 'The Devil's Double'.

Starring 'Mamma Mia's Dominic Cooper and French star Ludivine Sagnier, the film is based on Latif Yahia’s biographical novel.

Cooper plays both Saddam Hussein’s son, Uday Hussein, and his body double Latif Yahia. Sagnier

plays Sarrab, Uday’s concubine and the secret lover of Latif.

Described as a ordinary man’s struggle in a world of power, deceit, betrayal, violence and seduction, hopes are high for the New Zealand director's latest effort.

When army lieutenant Latif Yahia 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.

No word yet on when the film is due out but with two hot young stars, there's plenty of buzz about it already.

Consistency the key for local film services industry

By: Patrick Cooke

Foreign film production companies may have slashed budgets last year in the wake of the global financial crisis, but Malta's film services industry is attracting a consistent flow of productions to the country for the first time in its history, according to Film Commissioner Luisa Bonello.

Despite a slow start to last year, Malta still attracted 14 foreign productions to its shores, compared with eight productions in 2008 and 10 in 2007.

"We only had a few quiet months in the early part of the year which broke the continuous spell of productions since 2007. This is the first time we have seen consistency in the industry," Ms Bonello said.

Last year's productions consisted of eight TV programmes, four feature films and two commercials. Production companies came from nine different countries including Italy, UK, Germany and Scandinavia.

In all, these productions are estimated to have spent €6.5 million directly on Maltese services, crew and goods, compared with an estimated €20.6 million in 2008 and €4.5 million in 2007.

Big budget Spanish production Agora, shot entirely in Malta, "distorted" the financial figures for 2008, but Ms Bonello thinks the fall in revenue should not distract from the fact that there were more productions filmed in Malta last year compared with 2008.

"Even though less money was spent, there were more productions, more work, more activity for the local sector, our crew improved and secured higher positions and general progress continues to be registered," she said.

She added that the key to developing a successful local film services industry was to ensure productions were in prep or shooting every day of the year.

"Hollywood's big-scale productions are a bonus, but they can never sustain us. Our aim is to attract the medium and small, budget films and TV productions, and I think they are developing into a steady niche," she said, adding productions from India, Japan and Russia contributing to the diversity of the flow of work.

"In these types of productions, local crews can take higher positions which will help them learn. More experienced crews available in Malta make us more appealing as a filming destination," she said.

Ms Bonello said she was unable to say with any certainty that there would be growth in terms of productions filmed in Malta or revenue generated by the local film services industry this year, but she expressed confidence that there would continue to be a consistent flow of productions.

The commission is in touch with several potential productions for this year, including returning clients. An Italian TV production is set to shoot next month, and currently shooting is The Devil's Double, based on the book of the same title by Latif Yahia, who was the double of Saddam Hussein's sadistic son Uday during the dictator's reign. Malta is doubling as Iraq in the nine-week shoot - which began on February 6 - but will also feature as Malta "in a scene or two".

"Doubling as Iraq is good because it's another country that we can say we have doubled as when trying to attract productions," Ms Bonello said.

India, which has the largest film industry in the world, is one market the Film Commission is targeting in the hope that Indian production companies will return regularly. Last year, song and dance sequences for the film Vinnai Thankdi Varuvaya (Will You Come from the Sky?) were shot in Malta over eight days. Ms Bonello met major production companies and studios as part of a trade delegation to India last November.

"We had very, very good feedback. They have a hunger for new locations. It's a very different style of film-making but one that can generate substantial amount of work for Malta and also promote its image to a huge home audience. It's about diversifying," she said.

When Malta introduced its audiovisual financial incentives scheme in 2007, in the form of a cash rebate given on eligible EU expenditure to qualifying production companies, it was only the third of its kind to be approved by the EU. The scheme has been extended to the end of 2012 and remains a crucial factor in attracting productions to Malta, but now almost every EU country offers similar incentives.

Although competition for attracting films is fierce, Ms Bonello believes Malta can continue to compete because of its strong combination of attractions. She cited the water tanks at the Mediterranean Film Studios, which are the largest in Europe, the backlots of Fort Ricasoli, the incentives scheme, Malta's capacity to double for almost anywhere in the Mediterranean, and the ability of local crew to speak English as being the main draws.

Malta's main shortfalls are the absence of huge soundstages and the lack of technical crew in high places, training schemes for local people and film-specific technical equipment, but Ms Bonello insists measures are being taken to address these issues.

Dominic Cooper, Ludivine Sagnier

see 'Double'

Belgian-backed film based on Saddam Hussein novel

By Stuart Kemp

LONDON -- Lee Tamahori's action drama "The Devil's Double" has enlisted Dominic Cooper and Ludivine Sagnier to star in the Belgium-backed production.

Cooper will play the dual roles of Saddam Hussein's son, Uday Hussein and Latif Yahia, his body double in the movie based on Latif Yahia's biographical novel of the same name. Sagnier plays Sarrab, Uday's concubine and secret lover to Latif.

Belgian production company Corsan is making the project from a screenplay penned by Michael Thomas. Produced by Paul Breuls, Michael John Fedun, Catherine Vandeleene and Emjay Rechsteiner, the project is exec produced by Harris Tulchin.

Tamahori has become a go-to action director after bursting on the scene in 1994 with his Maori tale "Once Were Warriors," and now boasts a resume which includes Bond outing "Die Another Day" and "XXX2: The State of the Union." The project, currently shooting in Malta, will be repped for international by Corsan World Sales at the upcoming European Film Market in Berlin.

'The Devil's Double' Starts Filming in Malta

Saddam Hussein inner circle drama is directed by Lee Tamahori and stars Dominic Cooper

By Wrap Staff
Principal photography has started on location in Malta on the action drama, "The Devil's Double." Directed by "Die Another Day" director Lee Tamahori, the look at Saddam Hussein's inner circle is being financed by the Belgian production company Corsan.

Dominic Cooper will portray the dual roles of ("Mama Mia!") Hussein’s son, Uday and Latif Yahia, his body double. Ludivine Sagnier ("Swimming Pool") will play Sarrab, Uday’s concubine and secret lover to Latif.

The screenplay, written by Michael Thomas, is based on Latif Yahia’s biographical novel,

Ludivine Sagnier joins Tamahori’s The Devil’s Double as shoot begins

Ludivine Sagnier and Latif Yahia

By Andreas Wiseman

Principal photography on Lee Tamahori’s The Devil’s Double has begun in Malta.

Belgian producers Corsan have confirmed that French actress Ludivine Sagnier has joined the cast of the thriller, which tells the true story of the body double for Saddam Hussein’s son Uday. Dominic Cooper also stars.

Corsan World Sales is selling international rights to the film and Paradigm Motion Picture Finance Group is representing domestic rights.

Cooper will play the dual roles of Saddam Hussein’s son, Uday Hussein and Latif Yahia, his body double and Sagnier will play Sarrab, Uday’s concubine and secret lover to Latif.

Paul Breuls, Michael John Fedun, Catherine Vandeleene and Emjay Rechsteiner are producing while Harris Tulchin is executive producer.

Michael Thomas adapted the screenplay from Yahia’s biographical novel of the same name.

The Belgian producers have assembled a strong production team including Centurion director of photography Sam McCurdy and costume designer Anna Sheppard, a two-time Oscar nominee. The nine week shoot is due to wrap on April 10.

Corsan is also currently in pre-production on Roland Joffe’s new feature, Singularity, which will shoot in India this summer.

My theory on Iraq and Iraqis.

Having viewed many videos of atrocities committed against Iraqi civilians before, during the invasion and until now, I have been caused to reflect on Iraq, the country and it’s people.

Why is it that Iraq has suffered so much under the hands of dictators, invaders and enemies. It would be too easy to say that the oil in Iraq was the reason, but I think we need to go back further.

Iraq is credited with being the cradle of civilization, the birthplace of Law, then why is it that this country is now the exact opposite of it’s once illuminated self?

I have a theory, Iraq throughout history has been fought over, the fertile land of the delta of the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers, the Garden of Eden, people have always wanted to posses it. Those people were usually warlords or heads of tribes, and here is the theory: Iraqis all share a specific genetic disposition, they all want power, it is an endless circle those without power want it, those with power use it.

In general Iraq has always been led by a ‘Ruler’, King, Dictator, Sheikh or Sultan, always one persons rule, so when a populace are then faced with democracy what do they do? They do what they always do, gather in their tribes and the head of each tribe fights to become the ‘Ruler’

Best regards,

Latif Yahia

Latif Yahia interviewed on BBC HARDtalk

The first part of what I consider to be the best interview that I have ever given in the past 19 years. I consider Stephen Sackur from BBC's HARDtalk to be one of the toughest interviewers ( hence the name of the show ). A challenge and a pleasure in equal amounts. 2/12/2009 London
http://www.latifyahia.com

Latif Yahia interviewed on BBC HARDtalk part 1

Latif Yahia interviewed on BBC HARDtalk part 2

Latif Yahia interviewed on BBC HARDtalk part 3

Hist freshers deal with terrorism

By: Darren Mooney & Daniel Costigan

The College Historical Society held its annual R’n’L debate on the controversial topic of political violence or terrorism on Wednesday April 4th. Organised exclusively by the Records and Libraries sub-committee, the debate was a roaring success.

This Junior Freshman-run debate was quite an interesting departure from the normal discussions that take place in the chamber during the year.

The vibrant and varied discussion of political violence during the debate was a fantastic reflection on the R’n’L. ’I’ve never seen anything like it,’ commented Hist Auditor James O’Brien. ’The energy and enthusiasm shown by the first-years is just amazing.’

The motion ’ ’One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter’ meant that the speakers didn’t address the House in the usual adversarial manner.

The debate quickly became an invitation for speakers to advance from the motion and tackle more broad and varied concepts. Ideas about the pejorative use of the word ’terrorist’, subjective Western value judgements and the need to come up with objective criteria by which to define a terrorist were discussed. The debate also challenged the audience to question the violent foundation of western democracies and further used varied and unique analogies comparing terrorism to beating someone to death in a night-club, or pondering if the photogenic nature of the victims is what makes us feel so disgusted at the concept. Is killing killing or is terrorism something beyond that’

The highlight of the night was former body double for Uday Hussein, Dr Latif Yahia, asserting that the so-called Democratic Nations didn’t have the principles they so strongly advocated. Dr Yahia alleged widespread corruption, hypocrisy and abuse within the West and challenged us to revise our views of ’terrorists’ as depicted through our news services. ’Two things make the Terrorist,’ he warned the audience: ’The politician ’ and the media.’ At the time of printing, Dr Yahia’s speech has been downloaded over 2500 times from the Hist’s website, www.thehist.com.

Students themselves grappled on whether it was possible to justify terrorism, or if they were simply ’psychopaths’ or ’impressionable idiots’. One student speaker assured the crowd that ’terrorism is not only justifiable, but it’s also effective’. Everyone had a different view and there were no two speeches alike on either side throughout the debate.

The debate was a melting pot of different ideas ’ with speakers disagreeing on what a terrorist was. There was even some discussion as to whether one of the guests, Deirdre Clancy, was a terrorist herself after her disabling of a military jet at Shannon in 2003. Or, as Village columnist Harry Browne suggested, was she a freedom fighter’

The massive variety in the guests and speeches make this debate the best R’n’L debate in a long time.

HARDtalk 2009 - the good, the bad and the bizarre

By Stephen Sackur
Presenter, BBC HARDtalk

The HARDtalk studio is dark. The two leather chairs on our simple set are empty. This year's interrogations are over and it's time to remember the good, the bad and the downright bizarre from HARDtalk 2009.

2009 saw the first walk-out in the middle of a HARDtalk interview

It was the year we took the show on the road as never before. From interviews recorded deep inside the Arctic Circle, to a New York Bank vault and a Congolese forest.

And it was the year of the unpredictable guest. From the media manipulator who stormed out of the studio before the interview was done, to the fashionista who confessed to wearing no knickers (I felt no need to demand further evidence).

Shivering guests

Of all the big stories in our HARDtalk year, perhaps the most frequently revisited was climate change, and what to do about it.

For two weeks in the summer I travelled round Greenland, mixing our usual challenging interviews with reportage from the field.

As the ice melts people living in the Arctic Circle will need fewer huskies Greenland's warmer future

So it was that I found myself quizzing Australia's environment minister Penny Wong and India's climate envoy Shyam Saran high above Baffin Bay with icebergs for a backdrop.

In my four years on HARDtalk I've seen the occasional guest give an involuntary shiver of trepidation - but never before have I quizzed guests shivering with cold.

The debate itself was heated, even if the guest themselves were not.

The failure of the rich nations and the developing world to strike a comprehensive and binding agreement in Copenhagen was foreshadowed in this and several other HARDtalk interviews with key players in the climate debate.

And amid the political arguments Greenland gave me some unexpected insights into the impacts of global warming.

I've been called a hard-bitten journalist more than once in my life - in western Greenland the description was all too accurate

Melting glaciers I'd expected, but what about the Greenlanders who are growing their own vegetables in the unprecedented summer warmth? And the clouds of voracious mosquitoes that can now be found deep inside the Arctic Circle?

I've been called a hard-bitten journalist more than once in my life - in western Greenland the description was all too accurate.

Hubris and greed

The struggling global economy was another staple on the HARDtalk menu throughout 2009.

Perhaps most memorable was my interview with Lawrence MacDonald, a former vice-president of the ill-fated Lehman's Brothers investment bank.

We wanted an evocative and moody location - and we found it in a subterranean bank vault with mighty steel doors underneath Wall Street itself.

Stephen's exchange with Noam Chomsky came in for some criticism

It used to house depositors' cash, now it is an exclusive gentleman's dining club for Wall Street's remaining gazillionaires.

Mr MacDonald told me the compelling story of a company overwhelmed by hubris and greed. And what is this contrite banker doing now? Running a boutique investment fund for high-worth investors, of course.

Wall Street may be chastened, but it is unclear what has really changed. After a highly charged and (I hope) entertaining exchange with Steve Forbes, the millionaire publisher and defender of liberal economics, I was presented with a small gift.

It was a silk tie embossed with Mr Forbes' favourite self-description: "The Capitalist Tool."

Empty chair

By way of extreme contrast my HARDtalk year also took me to eastern Congo - perhaps the most war ravaged region on the planet over recent years.

The most upsetting interviews of the assignment were with two teenage girls - children still - who courageously chose to tell me how they were systematically raped by Congolese gunmen.

They spoke out, they said, in order that the world would know what is still happening in their country.

Sometimes in HARDtalk we push guests closer to their limits than perhaps we realise

The UN has its biggest peacekeeping force stationed in DR Congo, but there is precious little peace to keep.

And the UN has found itself on the same side as some highly questionable characters - including the warlord "Bosco" Ntaganda, who is wanted for war crimes, but now serves as a commander in the Congolese government's armed forces.

We believed we had arranged an exclusive HARDtalk interview with General Bosco in his headquarters. We set up the cameras, prepared the microphones and waited.

And waited. Bosco never showed up. It was the first time HARDtalk aired an interview with an empty chair.

PR guru Max Clifford walked out when the questioning turned to Jade Goody

That was not the only spot of guest trouble we had in 2009. For the first time in my HARDtalk career I experienced a walk-out in the middle of an interview.

The guest in question was Max Clifford, Britain's foremost celebrity publicist and agent. One of his highest profile clients last year was Jade Goody, a woman made famous for her appearances on reality television.

Goody was diagnosed with terminal cancer and spent her last weeks in a blaze of Clifford-controlled publicity which earned her children a great deal of money.

When I asked Max Clifford about his involvement with Ms Goody he was clearly unhappy. When I asked a follow-up question he stormed off the set.

As we had only recorded one-third of a full HARDtalk interview this was a programme that could never be aired.

Needless to say it led to a major inquest in the HARDtalk office. Did I cross a line? Was I gratuitously offensive? I really do not think so, but it was a reminder that sometimes in HARDtalk we push guests closer to their limits than perhaps we realise.

Memorable image

HARDtalk sees encounters with presidents and prime ministers every year, but it is often the more unexpected interviews which prompt the biggest viewer response. And this year was no exception.

Vivienne Westwood described collecting a royal honour... wearing no knickers!

My exchange with Noam Chomsky about the Obama presidency and American foreign policy drew much comment - much of it highly critical of my "aggressive and arrogant" questioning of the 81-year-old professor.

Another huge response greeted the interview with Latif Yahia, the Iraqi man co-opted to be Uday Hussein's body double in the darkest days of the Saddam dictatorship.

How could such an experience leave Yahia defending Saddam and wishing his rule had never ended? Classic HARDtalk territory…

And finally I'll leave you with an image which has stayed with me since I interviewed the wonderfully idiosyncratic British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood last year.

She confessed to me that when she went to Buckingham Palace to receive an honour from the Queen she had neglected to put on any knickers.

She only remembered when she was surrounded by photographers when the ceremony was over. "I couldn't understand why they were taking their pictures from such a low angle," she told me.

And then she remembered. And now so will I.

Malta set for film on Hussein’s body-double

Latif Yahia

By: David Darmanin

A Belgian film company will soon start shooting a biopic on the body-double of Uday Hussein, the sadistic son of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
The film will be directed by Lee Tamahori, famous for his 2002 James Bond film Die Another Day and Next (2007), which had starred Nicholas Cage.
The Devil’s Double, which is due to start filming in January, is a thriller based on a true story about the man forced to become the Uday’s dead-ringer. Latif Yahia, an Iraqi army lieutenant stationed on the Iranian border, was summoned to Saddam Hussein’s inner sanctum where he was given a choice: become the body double of Uday, or die.
The Devil’s Double provides unique insight into a closed society revealing the horrors of Saddam’s tyrannical regime from the inside while providing a chilling portrait of the man whom many considered to be Saddam’s heir apparent.
Yahia will be played by English actor Dominic Cooper, who had also played the character of Sky in the 2008 musical Mamma Mia. Prolific French actress Ludivine Sagnier is said to be in talks with the production company for a role in the same film.
Film industry sources told MaltaToday that the Belgian company Corsan is still looking at different locations where to shoot in Malta, and that although the island has been confirmed as the destination for filming, exact locations are not yet known. Corsan is still in the process of casting key people for the movie.

Uday Hussein was 'worse than a psychopath'

Latif Yahia interview with HARDtalk is scheduled to broadcast on BBC ,

Latif Yahia interview with HARDtalk is scheduled to broadcast on BBC ,
The full interview with Latif Yahia will be broadcast on HARDtalk on Wednesday 2nd December 2009.
BBC News Channel: 0430 and 2330 GMT.
BBC World News: 0430, 0930, 1430, 1830, 2130 and 2330 GMT.

Latif Yahia was ordered to become the body double for Saddam Hussein's notoriously brutal son Uday. He played that role for four years, before fleeing with the help, he says, of the CIA. His story is about to be turned into a big budget movie, but what will the world make of a man who now insists Iraq needs a leader like Saddam Hussein? Yahia talks to Stephen Sackur.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/hardtalk/8388903.stm

IRELAND TO THE EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS

I AM LOOKING FOR A EUROPEAN LAWYER (not Irish) WHO HAS THE BALLS TO TAKE THE STATE OF IRELAND TO THE EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS ON MY BEHALF! If you feel that you have what it takes then please contact me.
Best regards.
Latif Yahia

Hussein Body Double's Irish Plan

Saturday, 3 March 2007 7:31am UK

Latif Yahia is the kind of man who attracts plenty of curious

glances wherever he goes, writes Sky News reporter Enda Brady.

"Immaculately groomed and well spoken, he could be

a businessman heading to a conference at the Dublin

hotel where we meet.

But his incredible likeness to Saddam Hussein's sadistic son

Uday means he will always get attention.

Yahia went to the same Baghdad school as the dictator's son and

was regularly teased because he bore such a strong facial similarity to Uday.

Years later he was summoned to meet the Iraqi President and

informed that a great honour was to be bestowed upon him,

he was to become Uday's double - whether he liked it or not.

To make his appearance faultless, he claims Saddam forced him to undergo plastic surgery and then have coaching in how to imitate Uday.

If he didn't agree to it, his family would be harmed.

Yahia went on to spend four and a half years living a bizarre life of luxury, interspersed with assassination attempts by Shiite militia and occasional beatings from Uday.

He fled Iraq in 1991 after the first US-led invasion, made his way to Kurdistan and eventually ended up in Austria. For the past decade he has lived in Ireland where he has an Irish partner and three Irish-born children.

"I just want to live a peaceful life and put the past behind me, but the Irish government won't grant me citizenship," Yahia told Sky News.

"When I saw Uday and Qusay (Saddam's other son) dead on the TV news in 2003 I smashed the screen I was so angry, they had cheated justice. I wanted them to pay for all they had done. Now I'm paying a price too."

Yahia has now written a book about his experiences and while it may read like a best-selling work of fiction, he inisists it is all true.

"Writing has helped me but in some ways I don't think I will ever be able to shake off the shadow of Uday and his family," he said."

This is a very interesting article that I read, I thought that I would share it with you, just something to think about.
Sacred surprise behind Israeli hospital

The marble Shiite prayer area at Israel's Barzilai Medical Center.

Special to The Times, May 21, 2008
From the Los Angeles Times
By Batsheva Sobelman

JERUSALEM — The city of Ashkelon has been in the headlines lately, and not for its pretty beaches. The city of 110,000 has sadly joined Israels southern front line as rockets fired from the Gaza Strip improve in range and technology.

Last week, a rocket hit a shopping mall in town; the dozens of injured were treated at the city's Barzilai Medical Center.

It turns out the hospital grounds contain an interesting bit of history: a site holy to certain Shiite Muslims, thousands of whom have come to pray there over the years. Ashkelon has 5,000 years of recorded history, but when the hospital was first built in 1961, nothing indicated that the hill out back was anything special.

The consecration of the site dates back to the early days of Islam. The decades that followed the death of the prophet Muhammad in 632 were marked by a bitter and bloody dispute over succession, a conflict that ultimately marked the split between Sunni and Shiite Muslims.

In a nutshell, Ali, Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, was passed over for the position of caliph -- leader of the young Muslim nation. Ali's followers eventually rebelled, touching off years of conflict.

After Ali was assassinated in 661, his sons Hasan and Hussein carried on his struggle. Hussein and his small rebel army were slaughtered in 680 in what is now the Iraqi holy city of Karbala. His head was delivered as a trophy to Yazid, the victorious caliph, in Damascus, while his body remained in Karbala. Shiites commemorate Hussein\'s death annually in the intense day of mourning known as Ashura.

Both Karbala and Damascus became sites of Shiite pilgrimages. Sunni rulers, displeased with the phenomenon, decided to relocate Hussein\'s head to the far edge of the kingdom -- Ashkelon. It remained there for several centuries, until the legendary Muslim leader Saladin sent the head to Egypt for safekeeping from the invading Crusaders.

What was once the far end of an ancient Muslim kingdom is now a grassy mound behind an Israeli hospital.

A millennium after Hussein's head was removed from Ashkelon, the site is still revered by Shiite offshoots, mostly from India and Pakistan. The pilgrims include those from countries with no diplomatic ties with Israel, hospital officials say.

About a decade ago, a Shiite spiritual leader arrived at the hospital with an unusual request : to be allowed to erect a prayer area for the pilgrims.

"How do you know this is the site?" asked Dr. Ron Lobel, deputy director of the medical center.

"I walked out to the mound with him," Lobel said. "He took out a shovel and started digging. To my astonishment, a meter or so deep, he exposed the cornerstone of the ancient mosque that had been built where the head had been buried, and was later destroyed by the Crusaders."

With the hospital's blessing, the worshipers imported the most valued marble in India. The prayer area, built seven or eight years ago, is open to the pilgrims.

"They are quiet, peaceful people. They come in silence, sometimes barely uttering a sound," said Lobel, who has become the resident expert on the subject. "An island of Shiite Muslim prayer in an Israeli hospital in a Jewish state. It really is unique."

"The Devil's Double"

Lee Tamahori

Lee Tamahori arrived in Hollywood having helmed "Once Were Warriors"
and then wasted his talents on films like "xXx: State Of The Union" and "Next." Well his next film, about the late Uday Hussein's body double, actually sounds pretty interesting. Titled "The Devil's Double" it's based on the true story of Latif Yahia, a dead ringer for Uday, who was forced against his will stand in for the hated, crazed and sadistic son of Saddam in potentially dangerous situations. As a result, he got a first hand look inside the wild world of the Husseins and went on to publish three books about his experiences, two of which - I Was Saddam’s Son and The Devil’s Double - will serve as the foundation of the film. The picture will begin shooting in January in Malta, and Dominic Cooper is the first confirmed cast member, while Ludivine Sagnier is currently circling the project.

Cooper to play The Devil’s Double for Tamahori

9 November, 2009 | By Jeremy Kay

Dominic Cooper will star and Ludivine Sagnier is in talks to join him in Corsan’s thriller The Devil’s Double based on the true story of Uday Hussein’s body double that is set to begin shooting in January in Malta.

Lee Tamahori (Die Another Day, XXX: State Of The Union) will direct to join what Corsan CEO Paul Breuls described as a taut action tale about the extraordinary life of Latif Yahia.

Corsan World Sales is talking to buyers here at AFM and the Paradigm Motion Picture Finance Group is representing domestic rights.

Yahia, a dead ringer for Saddam Hussein’s sadistic and widely despised son, was forced against his will to stand in for Uday in potentially dangerous situations. Through his role, Yahia gained access to Hussein’s inner sanctum and witnessed corruption, violence and debauchery.

Michael Thomas adapted the screenplay from Yahia’s books I Was Saddam’s Son and The Devil’s Double.

Cooper currently appears alongside Carey Mulligan and Peter Sarsgaard in An Education and his credits include Mamma Mia!, The Duchess and The History Boys. He will next be seen in Stephen Frears’ Tamara Drewe.

Message From My friend to the World

Consider this, my friend: You are where you are . . . think about it; we are determined by where we are, what we expose ourselves to, our environment. Not just our genetics. Now consider: You are what you eat. Okay now, if what you eat is not grown where you are, what are you??? This site is the realization and release of my 50 years study, work, sojourn on this planet. For 20 of those years I traveled to some two dozen countries, and to a host of Indigenous Nations not recognized by the United Nations (a real Travesty!) working on community-based projects and teaching ecological design, environmental restoration and self-sufficient organic home gardening. In 2005, as part of its 2020 Vision Programme, the United Nations released the Millenium Ecosystems Assessment (MEA). www.millenniumassessment.org. Some 1500 top world class scientists from some 95 countries collaborated over a 5 year period to assess the world’s ecosystems – from Mangroves and Estuaries, to Temperate and Sub-Tropical Rainforests to Savannahs and Prairies to deserts and Tundra. They came to the startling conclusion that we have already irreversibly damaged or destroyed or at least impacted fully two-thirds of the worlds ecosystems. They reckoned one-thirds of the damage has been caused by Industrial Agriculture (the fat cat culprits know who they are and should be ashamed). The MEA got a total of 3 days world media attention. EcosystemsServices http://www.actionbioscience.org/environment/esa.html are those services to humankind that Nature provides free of charge. Who says there is no “Free Ride”? There is not a government budget that accounts for ecosystems services. There is not a business plan out there, except for new forests fund, http://newforests.com.au and maybe a handle full of other enlightened long-range vision companies, that has a balance sheet for Nature. What do we mean by ecosystems services, in a nutshell? Clean air, pure water, live soil, carbon, biodiversity, hydrological mediation, climate mediation, seeds, oils, foods, medicines, habitat for All of God’s Creatures, and billions of micro-organisms we know nothing about. My mission is to help people understand their “ecological footprint.” That is, each of us, over our lifetime, uses up a certain amount of all these resources. It is our imperative responsibility to take account of ourselves. We cannot do that without understanding, as the Ancient Greeks did, and all of the Indigenous cultures I have ever been exposed to, that we are all of us connected to the Living Planet (GAIA), and to each other. And so I offer this effort, this mission, this passion, this love, this determination to all those souls there who are awake, all my brothers and sisters, and indeed All My Relations . . .I hope you will take the time to study what this site has to offer and to educate yourself to your duty to the Creator, The Great Spirit, Allah, the Heavenly Father, the Mother Earth Goddess (Gaia) or whatever you choose to call and worship as The One God. If you can help with funding, social networking, or in any capacity please let me know. Thank you. Peace, love, light and laughter be with you. Thomas
www.millenniumassessment.org
Source: www.millenniumassessment.org