BRUTAL dictator Saddam Hussein wrote a romantic novel that included a sex scene between a shepherd and a bear.

The Iraqi crackpot’s book Zabiba and the King was written in 2000 but the paperback version is now available on Amazon for £8.

4 Zabiba and the King is available for £8 on Amazon

4 The book tells how 'Even an animal respects a man’s desire, if it wants to copulate with him' Credit: Getty - Contributor

Set in his home town of Tikrit, the story tells of the relationship between the ruler of medieval Iraq and a beautiful commoner girl, who is violated by a heartless stranger.

It is thought to be a metaphor for Iraq’s conflict with the US.

It was a best-seller in Iraq on release and made part of the school curriculum — despite the bizarre sex scene.

On page 127 Hussein writes: “Even an animal respects a man’s desire, if it wants to copulate with him.

4 The former dictator's book has been described by one reviewer as 'a complete trainwreck' Credit: Handout - Getty

“Doesn’t a female bear try to please a herdsman when she drags him into the mountains as it happens in the North of Iraq?

“She drags him into her den so he, obeying her desire, would copulate with her.”

Hussein — whose pen name of He Who Writes was exposed in 2004 — wrote four books while president.

But reviews of Zabiba and the King on Amazon are mixed.

4 Hussein wrote four books while president of Iraq Credit: AFP - Getty

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Mike Lewis urged readers to buy the book “as a historical curiosity, not for literary entertainment”. He added: “It is a complete trainwreck.”

But another reviewer called it a “fascinating and moving work” that is “open to multiple interpretations like all genuine works of literature”.

Hussein was captured by US forces in 2003 and executed three years later.