BAGHDAD, July 22 (UPI) -- Basam Ridha has gone from small roles in Hollywood to a major role in Iraq -- overseer of executions.
Ridha fled Saddam Hussein's Iraq 25 years ago and made his way to Los Angeles, where he played a number of small parts in movies starring actors like George Clooney and Omar Sharif, The Los Angeles Times reported Sunday.
When the U.S. government asked him to be a part of the first government after Hussein was toppled, he returned to Iraq.
Now, he is adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on judicial matters and executions, in charge of making sure the trials and sentences of Hussein-era officials go smoothly.
The former actor enjoyed his comfortable life in Southern California but says he is willing to tolerate the challenges of life in Baghdad if it means justice for the many Iraqis -- including his two brothers -- who were killed during Hussein's rule.
"I feel like I deliver something to the Iraqi people, and I feel good about it when I take these people and send them to the gallows," Ridha told the Times.
