Wife No2 - and only surviving son - are alive and wealthy in Lebanon

SADDAM Hussein has been in regular contact with his second wife and only surviving son, it emerged yesterday.

Marie Colvin reported in the Sunday Times that the two relatives of Saddam, who are living in Lebanon under assumed names, have been receiving telephone calls or letters at least once a week.

Samira Shahbandar, known as being the closest to Saddam of his four wives, received $5 million in cash from Saddam, as well as jewellery and gold.

She moved across the Iraqi border into Syria then travelled to Beirut, where she was granted a Lebanese passport with the name of ‘Hadija’. She claims that she has been given permission to live in France and she expects to move to Paris next month.

Samira dresses in the style of the richest members of affluent western communities and has always enjoyed a life of extreme luxury. She remained a mysterious figure throughout her husband’s reign of power.

The couple met two decades ago. Samira was the daughter of an aristocratic Baghdad family who looked down on and deplored the likes of the tribal Saddam. She already had married an Iraqi pilot and they became parents of a son and a daughter. However, the marriage was not a happy one and Saddam’s eye soon fell on her.

Ali, the 21-year-old son of Saddam and Samira, also was granted an artificial passport which gives him the name of ‘Hassan’. Ali is said to have an arrogant manner, suggesting he is used to being obeyed.

He is the only surviving son of Saddam after older sons Qusay and Uday, who were predominant in the Hussein family’s terrorising of Iraq, were killed by American forces during the siege of a house in Mosul.

Samira said that the contact between herself and the fugitive dictator had remained regular. "If he cannot say something in detail on the telephone, I know I will receive a letter in two to three days giving me an explanation," she said.

She speaks of a "very depressed and sad" Saddam who was open in his emotions and distraught enough to cry in her presence.

She recounted an emotional encounter with Saddam after the fall of Baghdad. "He told me not to be afraid. He kissed Ali and said the same - ‘Don’t be afraid. Take care of your mother. People will bring you things to help’."

While Samira speaks of a relationship with Saddam where love is always present, she does say that it was not Saddam’s ultimate concern. "He loved the army," she said, "The army meant more to him than anything in his life.

"He thought that his family should be the first to go into the army. One of the only times he would not listen to me is when I tried to get my relatives out. He did not accept that. "

Despite claiming that Saddam had "been a good husband", Samira was more than aware of the dangers of crossing him. "I’m not afraid of dying, if it is my time to die. I did know that if I said ‘no’ to Saddam he might kill me."

She seems almost oblivious to the obvious horrors of Saddam’s regime, blaming part of the situation on the ordinary people of Iraq. "He made mistakes and we argued," she said. "But he told me he realised that the Iraqi people are such that if you give them an apple they will demand a basket of fruit."

When Saddam met Samira on the last occasion they were together he provided her with the $5 million in cash and a large box of gold for when she is "really in need", telling her: "Don’t ask me how I will be. I want you to be safe."