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by L.A. Times
September 27, 2002
BERLIN — A German
television network said Thursday that it had made a scientific study of
450 photographs of Saddam Hussein in Iraq and concluded that there are
at least three look-alikes posing as the Iraqi president.
The ZDF public
television network, working with a German coroner, said it took the
photographs and film clips of Hussein from its archives and used facial
recognition technology to determine that men said to be him were
look-alikes.
"In the film
sequences since 1998 only the doubles appear," said a coroner whom ZDF
consulted, Dieter Buhmann. "He himself has not been seen again."
ZDF said that "a
scientific investigation proved that the 65-year-old ruler allows at
least three doubles to replace him at official appearances."
ZDF said it was
difficult to tell the look-alikes from Hussein.
"They have
apparently undergone surgery to appear to look like the statesman," the
television network said. "The doubles have mastered Saddam's gestures
and perfectly mimic Saddam, with only tiny details separating them from
the real Saddam Hussein."
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