Alexandria, Egypt, Sep 15: A Saddam Hussein lookalike said on Friday how gunmen kidnapped him and tried to force him to impersonate the tyrant in a porn film.
Egyptian Mohamed Bishr was offered £205,000 to play the despot, who was executed six years ago.
But the devout Muslim snubbed the thugs' threatening phone calls, reports the London daily Mirror.
Shortly after, three men snatched him from his car then beat him up after he still insisted he wouldn't do the hardcore sex flick.
The gang had apparently wanted to pass the tape off as genuine footage of ex-Iraqi leader Saddam.
Bishr, who was recovering in hospital from his beating on Friday, said: “The three men, who had guns hanging from their belts, forced me out of my car and shoved me into a van, hitting my head.”
Real Saddam Hussein
Bishr, from Alexandria on Egypt's Mediterranean coast, looks so similar to Saddam he has previously been attacked by Iraqis living there who mistook him for the toppled dictator.
His son, Mahmoud, said: “We asked the police to put special protection on our father because this has happened several times.”
Bishr was kidnapped last weekend by three unknown men in black suits as he headed to a cafe in Alexandria.
He said passers-by witnessed the assault but were too afraid to intervene. The last thing he remembered was being thrown from the van on to the pavement.
