Free of Fear

About the Book

Free of fear is about a man who overcame his fear to say no to Saddam Hussein when he wanted him to work on a nuclear weapons programme. The book vividly describes the atrocities of Saddam’s tyranny and how he and other inmates survived in Abu Ghraib prison. He overcame his fear again when he defied Saddam by escaping from prison after spending ten years in solitary confinement. After the fall of the regime, he was called upon to assume different ministerial positions and played leading roles in new Iraq. This book is an eyewitness account of five decades of modern Iraq with all its turmoil and challenges. It describes successes and failures at nation-building endeavours. Autobiography of Hussain Al-Shahristani is a mirror of recent Iraq’s history.

About the Author

Hussain Al-Shahristani served as Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs in Iraq from 2010 to 2014. He also served as Minister of Oil and Minister of Higher Education. A graduate of Imperial College in London and University of Toronto, he started his professional life as a nuclear scientist at the Iraqi Atomic Energy Commission in 1970. Al-Shahristani was sent to prison when he refused to work on Saddam Hussein’s nuclear weapon programme. He spent ten years in solitary confinement at Abu-Ghraib prison. He managed to escape from the notorious prison in a daring adventure and lived in Iran and the UK as a refugee. He was awarded the “Freedom from Fear 2012”, one of the Four Freedoms Award by Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute. After the fall of Saddam Hussein, he returned to Iraq and actively participated in the reconstruction of the country. He left government and focuses now on humanitarian work in Iraq.