Pilot's daughter speaks to Pink of 'uncle' Saddam Hussein

As the daughter of Saddam Hussein's personal pilot, Zainab Salbi grew up in a world of fear, where she had to refer to the dictator as her "uncle".

After fleeing from her arranged marriage, the attractive girl from Baghdad is now living happily in the US, racking up awards in recognition of her support group Women for Women International, which seeks to help socially-excluded women, especially from war-torn countries, become self-sufficient and active citizens.

Her intriguing story of fear, struggle and hope is told in an exclusive interview with Pink, which is being distributed with The Times tomorrow.

From Washington, Ms Salbi recounts her life of terror in close proximity with Saddam Hussein, and talks about what inspired her to set up her support group:

Since its inception, it has sponsored more than 33,000 women in nine countries.

"After half a million women in Rwanda were raped, we now have half of the Rwandan Parliament made up of females. If they can get their act together, rebuild their country and play a huge role, who am I to give up hope", she says in RendezView.

Ninety per cent of modern war casualties are civilians, 75 per cent of whom are women and children - the ones who are really dealing with the brunt of war, she adds in her story.

Equally shocking figures that tomorrow's 26th issue of Pink brings out include the fact that, every six minutes, somewhere in the world, a woman dies needlessly as a result of an illegal, unsafe abortion. Over 20 million abortions a year are performed under unsafe, or illegal conditions, resulting in the deaths of 70,000 women.

Figures released by the UK's Health Department show that 69 Maltese women sought an abortion in the UK in 2002, including one girl under 16 and four aged 16, or 17, while it is a known fact that others travel to Italy, although no figures are available.

If readers are blasé about abortion, they may be on another wavelength after they read Pink's InFocus article on the crude reality of the subject.

Fervent anti-abortionists Tony Levantino and Bernadette Goulding give candid accounts of how emotionally messed-up abortion left them. They relate their warts-and-all tales of personal grief and redemption.

"There was no talk of the risks to my physical and emotional health. It (abortion) was offered as a purely standard procedure. I didn't even think of the implications of what I was doing. But it must have sifted through my subconscious because I came out of the anaesthetic screaming," the then naïve 19-year-old from Ireland confides in Pink.

Dr Levantino, who made money from his gynae practice, performing abortions even after the first trimester - a procedure that not many pro-choice gynaes would accept to carry out - explains his U-turn, the result of personal misfortunes that opened his eyes to the murderous reality of his job.

In some instances, "you have to re-assemble the baby in order to make sure that you don't leave any pieces inside the woman. It really hits you that this is a real person you're killing," he tells Pink.

On a more frivolous note, and bearing in mind the Christmas season, one of the UK's leading nutritionists, Natalie Savona, warns that going on an eating and drinking frenzy around this time of the year is simply not on.

She explains the benefits of "wonderfoods", listed in her latest publication by the same name.

In tomorrow's issue, readers can travel to Pakistan in TravelOgue; be guided as regards last-minute presents ideas in TrendSetter; pick a stunning piece of gold jewellery for a gift in AccessoryStory; and "coat" themselves in style and sophistication over the coming colder months, with Pink's fashion photo shoot showing the best selection of "second skins" on the market. The monthly magazine is also packed with food, fitness, health, horoscopes, beauty, interiors, relationships and more.

Pink's executive editors are The Times journalists Fiona Galea Debono and Ariadne Massa.

Published by Allied Newspapers Ltd and produced by MediaMaker, it is designed by Helen Cassar Torreggiani and Joseph Schembri.