12:31pm UK, Monday September 09, 2002

Saddam Hussein used Viagra to pep up his sex life and enjoyed watching his enemies being tortured, according to his long-time mistress.

The Iraqi dictator was a "tender" lover who showered her with gifts and affection.

But as he got older he turned to the wonder love drug.

Saddam Hussein - Iraqi president

Saddam took sex pills

He also used a face-pack to look younger and spent nights watching videos of his enemies being battered and beaten, according to America's ABC News.

"Saddam, he don't need to force anybody. You are afraid. You are afraid to say no. I was with him because I was afraid of him," said ex-lover Parisoula Lampsos.

Twisted

Ms Lampsos, 54, says she was Saddam's mistress for 30 years. She left Iraq a year ago and is living in hiding in Lebanon where she spoke to the American broadcaster.

She paints a picture of a dictator becoming more and more paranoid and twisted by power.

But it was not always like that. He was once a warm and generous person, Ms Lampsos said.

"He was tender, he was warm, he was nice, he was another person," she said.

But as the years began to take their toll, he began dying his hair, using a face pack to hide the wrinkles, and even resorted to Viagra to keep up his sex drive.

Snuff

"He don't believe in his mother, he don't believe in God, he didn't believe in nobody," she said.

"He believe only for Saddam. He look at the mirror, 'I am Saddam.' He went like that. He looks. 'I am Saddam. Heil Hitler!'"

The president enjoyed quiet nights in. But rather than putting his feet up and watching a film, he would don a cowboy hat, puff on a cigar and watch a snuff video of his enemies being killed.

"He was happy, happy, happy," Ms Lampsos said.