BAGHDAD - There are many faces to President Saddam Hussein of Iraq.

The images serve as a constant reminder of President Saddam Hussein of Iraq, who rarely appears in public. (AP Photo)

There is the beaming Saddam, camera slung around his neck, as in a massive portrait adorning the outside of the Iraqi Photographers Union. There is the concerned Saddam, his hand on an ailing patient's forehead, as in a life-size picture covering the front of the Ministry of Health. And there is the mischievous Saddam, sporting sunglasses and an Arab headdress, as in a huge photograph gracing the Athletic Club.

Everywhere in Baghdad, in fact, one can find the face of the authoritarian Iraqi leader, whom his subjects refer to simply as Saddam, not the more formal Hussein. Saddam's portrait appears above the bridges that span the Tigris River. It is plastered on government buildings and shopfronts, inside offices, and at bus stops. It is featured on utilitarian items: calendars, clocks, and computer screen savers.

The Iraqi leader's omnipresent portrait, to Western eyes at least, seems aimed at underscoring his image as Iraq's sole ruler, encouraging an official cult of personality.

Iraqis here insist - publicly at least - that the many pictures of Saddam are a display of their admiration. ''He is a symbol for us,'' said artist Salam Abid, 47, whose portraits of the Iraqi leader dot parks and office buildings around Baghdad. ''We feel as a people he is a distinguished person, a brave knight, a man who deserves the name of leader.''

Public criticism of Hussein is not tolerated. Limited protests in October against the disappearance of political prisoners were unprecedented.

There seems to be a continuous provocation toward Saddam Hussein. It is as if Bush and Rumsfeld want to push him into a desperate act as if to justify an invasion here.

Wamidh Nadhmi professor of political science at Baghdad University

Certainly, the message drummed home in Iraqi newspapers and television, sculpture, and art is that Hussein is Iraq's sole source of defense against the world. Underscoring his might is one of Baghdad's more massive sculptures - two giant hands wielding swords that form a massive arch. The hands are modeled on casts of Hussein's.

Even a runaway Iraqi bestseller, ''Zabibah and The King,'' reflects Hussein's influence. While its author remains anonymous, it is widely believed to have been penned by the Iraqi president. The book tells the story of a young woman, but is largely seen as an allegory that preaches that only an all-powerful leader can keep a country safe.

''Saddam is not just our leader - he is our brother, our father,'' said Samir Fathi, 52, an engineer. ''Nobody can feel for the Iraqi people like Saddam.''

Still, some in Baghdad say in private that they don't like their leader and complain about the amount of Saddam iconography, which many say has increased in recent years. Not an office, restaurant, or even art gallery seems to be complete without its own Saddam snapshot or painting.

''There are practically more pictures than people,'' said a retired Iraqi sports star, who asked not to be identified.

While a government-controlled media has helped shore up Hussein's image, so too have UN sanctions, imposed on Iraq in 1990 following its invasion of Kuwait. Iraqis, who feel victimized by the sanctions, are quick to blame the United States and Britain rather than their leader.

The sanctions were due to be suspended when UN weapons inspectors certified that Iraq had successfully identified and destroyed its weapons of mass destruction. But UN weapons inspectors were pulled out in 1998, in advance of US airstrikes to punish Iraq for failing to comply with their work. Inspectors returned Nov. 27 for the first inspections in four years.

Meanwhile, the drumbeat of war from Washington appears to have only enhanced Hussein's stature, not lessened it.

''There seems to be a continuous provocation toward Saddam Hussein,'' said Wamidh Nadhmi, a professor of political science at Baghdad University, who is openly critical of many of the Iraqi president's actions.

''It is as if [President] Bush and [Defense Secretary Donald H.] Rumsfeld want to push him into a desperate act as if to justify an invasion here,'' Nadhmi said.

Even the young bohemian set that hangs out at Baghdad's thriving art galleries appears to hail Saddam. Painter Ra'of al Attar, 21, shook his head in denial when asked if young Iraqi artists sought to criticize Hussein in their work, as did a generation of Eastern Europeans, who waged quiet protests against communism through art two decades ago.

''We love Saddam,'' said Attar in an interview conducted in the presence of a government ''guide.''

Young artists who have political views, he said, instead ''express their feelings about the UN embargo, the Palestinian cause, or the Al-Amirya Shelter.'' Scores of civilians - the numbers vary from 400 to more than 1,000, depending on who proffers them - died in the shelter during the Gulf War, when it was bombed by the US-led coalition.

Portraits are not the only art form that hails Saddam. One Iraqi sculptor, Khalid Farhan, has reportedly made a sculpture of the Iraqi president every six months since 1991. A well-known poet, Abdul Razaq Abdul Wahid, is said to have dedicated three volumes of poetry to him.

But portraits are a visible reminder of Hussein, who now rarely appears in public. Once given to strolling the streets or visiting Iraqi homes, the Iraqi president is featured more in newspaper photos than anywhere else.

Painting Saddam portraits, in fact, is a booming business - so much so that some painters here devote themselves to it nearly full time.

Painter Abid estimates he has painted some 300 Saddam portraits - realistic, larger-than-life oils of the 65-year-old Iraqi president. By now, he said he knows Saddam's face nearly as well as his own.

''I know his features,'' shrugs Abid. ''I have examined them. And I am inspired by him. Sometimes, I just wake him and paint him, without a commission - just like that.''

In a good year, he sells up to 20 portraits of Saddam, at about $100 each. Government ministries, businessmen, and even tourists - the last buyers were Germans - plunk down cash for one of his many Saddam portraits. Four now hang in a streetside studio: three of Saddam in a suit, one in a military uniform.

Abid's artistic dedication resulted in a private audience with Hussein in 1998, a moment he still speaks about with some emotion.

''He is much more handsome than he looks on TV,'' the artist said. ''You feel he's a very dignified person.''

© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company

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