Mohamed Bishr not only has to deal with people on the street harassing him for looking like Saddam Hussein—he also has to evade the Iraqi gang that's trying to kidnap him and force him to star in their porn movies. And you thought you had problems.

According to al-Ahram, the porn gang recently beat up Bishr after trying to steal him. "[T]hree men, who had guns hanging from their belts, forced me out of my car and shoved me into a van, hitting my head," Bishr said "from his hospital bed." During the van ride, the men began arguing, then—for whatever reason—ejected him from the van. Bishr, who lives in Alexandria, Egypt, suffered face and head injuries. At least he wasn't eaten by badgers—a fate that's befallen other (fake) celebrity lookalikes. It could have been worse.

Bishr's son says his dad had turned down an offer of $333,000 to act like Hussein (himself an enthusiast of psychotic porn, even though he prohibited Iraqis from watching it) in a sex movie; apparently life hasn't been the same ever since. "We asked the police to put special protection on our father, because this has happened to us several times," the son said.

For whatever reason, we get the sense that there's more to this story than what we're being told. Why did Bishr—a devout Muslim—meet with the gang in the first place, if he had no interest in becoming an actor? And why would the gang let him get away, if they wanted to use him so badly? Maybe more details will emerge. Meantime, we can't blame Bishr for turning down the gang's offer—especially given that Saddam's last video appearance didn't turn out very well for him.

[Ahram, via Raw Story]