Working for Saddam = 'Sweating in Fear'

Feb. 25 -- It would be bad enough working for a boss with a reputation for paranoia and murderous purges. But imagine that he also believes he can read your mind — just by staring into your eyes.

That's what it's like working under Saddam Hussein, according to former Iraqi officials and Western diplomats who have seen his administration up close.

"At times, he has actually sent people to execution because he looked in their eyes and decided they were traitors, or that these were people he cannot trust," said Hussain al-Shahristani, who was Saddam's chief scientific adviser during the 1970s.

When Saddam became president in July 1979, one of his first moves was to eliminate potential rivals in his own Baath Party. One by one, he called out 60 of his colleagues and accused them of plotting against him. As each man was led from the chamber — reportedly to torture and then execution — Saddam wept. A film recording the purge was distributed throughout the country, inaugurating his reign of terror and announcing its rules.

"Saddam doesn't trust anybody, sometimes not even his leaders," said Saad al-Bazzaz, former director of the Iraqi News Agency and Iraqi TV.

Foreign diplomats say the effect on his officials is apparent. "You see these chaps sweating," said Stephen Egerton, the former British ambassador to Iraq. "You're in this icy, air-conditioned room — the coldest air conditioning I've ever known — and the chap's absolutely sweating with fear."

‘Pleasant’ at First

At first meeting, Saddam can seem pleasant and accommodating, according to people who have dealt with him.

"When you meet him, you think he's a decent person," said Mahmoud Osman, former chief negotiator for the Kurdish Democratic Party. "He listens very carefully to what you say. Then he picks up your ideas and usually talks in a flexible way. He makes a concession to you … but at the same time, he's thinking of another policy: how to destroy you if you don't follow him."