Lookalike ... Mohamed Bishr is often mistaken for Saddam Hussain
A SADDAM Hussain lookalike has claimed a gang tried to kidnap him and force him to impersonate the notorious dictator in a hardcore porn film.
Egyptian Mohamed Bishr - who is the spitting image of the former despot - claimed he was propositioned by the gang last week.The unidentified yobs told him they would release the faked footage as a genuine Saddam porn tape and sell it around the world to try to make money.
They initially said they would pay him £205,000 for his part in the scheme - but later beat him badly when he refused.
Mr Bishr - from Alexandria - said he also received threatening phone calls saying he would be kidnapped if he did not star in the film.
The devout Muslim said last week three men in black suits leapt out of a van and tried to force him into the back of the vehicle.
He told Egyptian daily newspaper Al-Ahram: "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."
He said that passers-by gathered around the incident but were too afraid to intervene and the last thing he remembered was being thrown from the van onto the pavement.
Mr Bishr has been attacked several times in the past by Iraqis living in Egypt.
Many of them mistook him for their toppled leader - who was executed in a Baghdad jail in December 2006 - and wanted to turn him in for a reward.
He has been forced to move home several times to avoid being harassed.
His son Mahmoud said: "We asked the police to put special protection on our father because this has happened to us several times."