The cover of the book

Amman, June 26 (Reuters): Jordan has banned Saddam Hussein’s new novel on the grounds the tale of an Arab tribesman who defeats a foreign intruder could hurt relations between the two countries, censors and the publisher said today.

Get Out of Here, Curse You!, believed to have been penned by the ousted Iraqi leader before the US-led war, was set to be released in Jordan and other Arab countries on Thursday by a Jordanian company with the permission of Saddam’s family.

“Publishing this novel will harm the Iraqi-Jordanian relationship and we are keen to have the best relations with Iraq. Jordan will not approve its publication. If they want to publish it they have to do it abroad,” Ahmad al-Qudah, head of the government’s press and publication department said.

The publisher said he had printed 10,000 copies for distribution in Jordan and other Arab countries, including Iraq, after winning initial permission. He said censors changed their mind after a local newspaper reported the upcoming launch.

“They gave us the okay from day one, but with all this publicity the censors called and told us to stop everything,” the publisher said, asking his name and his company not be printed for fear of government reprisals. “I will change the cover and publish it abroad. This book is going to be published in the Arab world, I tell you that.”

Under Jordanian law, the department can censor books published in the country.

The publisher said Saddam’s daughter Raghad, who lives in Amman, had given him permission to publish the book, in which she writes a dedication to her jailed father.