WASHINGTON (AP) -- A turning point for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein may have occurred when, at age 9, he came under the influence of a maternal uncle, says Jerrold Post, a specialist on the outlooks of foreign leaders.

The uncle instilled in Saddam the dream of following in the path of Saladin and Nebuchadnezzar and other long departed radical Arab leaders, says Post. Saddam took the advice to heart and acquired a few other traits along the way, he says.

Saddam is not insane but "represents the most dangerous personality," said Post, who years ago founded the CIA's Center for the Analysis of Personality and Political Behavior.

Narcissistic to an extreme, Saddam regards everyone as a potential enemy and is incapable of feeling remorse for the suffering of others, Post says. [...]

Saddam will never give up his forbidden weapons, Post says, because they enable him to say, "You see, we are sovereign. I can thwart the U.N. and the U.S. with impunity. We will continue and we will succeed."

Post's views on some other foreign leaders:

--Cuba's Fidel Castro: "He can blame the United States for his leadership failures."

--Palestinian Yasser Arafat: "To the degree that (Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon has pursued his very aggressive posture toward reoccupation, that puts Arafat in his favorite position of being underdog victim."

--North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il: "The starvation and the epidemics that are ravaging the country have to press upon him, and may be even a motivation for taking over the South and its resources."