Latif Yahia

Latif Yahia (Arabic: لطيف يحيى, Laṭīf Yaḥīa; born 14 June 1964) is an Iraqi blogger, political writer, and former lieutenant that served in the Iran–Iraq War. He is known for being the alleged former body double of Uday Hussein, elder son of infamous Saddam Hussein. Yahia was born to a wealthy merchant family of Iraqi–Kurdish origins who had long been settled in Baghdad. He alleges that he became Uday's double in September 1987 during the Iran–Iraq War, in which he was a lieutenant. He was born 4 days before Uday’s official birth date. At the age of 23, he was summoned from the frontlines to the presidential palace, where he discovered that Uday remembered that classmates had remarked on the resemblance between the two when they were in school together. Yahia was informed that he was to become Uday's fedai (body double) to make public appearances as Uday whenever a dangerous situation was expected. Yahia initially refused to take the job and was subsequently put in solitary confinement. After his imprisonment, Latif agreed to be Uday's double. He was trained for six months to imitate Uday's speech patterns and manner. He underwent surgery and dental work to make their appearances more similar. During the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, Yahia was used as a morale booster for the Iraqi troops and sent to Basra posing as Uday to meet with troops.His relationship with Uday later deteriorated. According to Yahia, the final straw came when a woman Uday was interested in paid more attention to Yahia. Uday shot at him, grazing him. When ordered to kill the father of a beauty pageant holder, a defiant Yahia slit his arms in front of Uday and the father. Yahia fled north in November 1991, where he was arrested by Kurdish Peshmerga, being mistaken for Uday. When they realized he was not Uday, he was released and granted asylum in Austria in 1992. After Yahia was attacked in Austria, he moved to London in 1995.