Yahia was born to a poor merchant family of
Iraqi–Kurdish origins who had long been settled in Baghdad. His relationship later deteriorated. According to Yahia, the final straw came when a woman Uday was interested in paid more attention to Yahia. Uday shot at him, grazing him. When ordered to kill the father of a beauty pageant holder, a defiant Yahia slit his arms in front of Uday and the father. Yahia fled north in November 1991, where he was arrested by Kurdish
Peshmerga, being mistaken for Uday. When they realized he was not Uday, he was released and granted asylum in
Austria in 1992. After Yahia was attacked in Austria, he moved to
London in 1995. In 2011, Caesar interviewed various people from the time of the Hussein regime who said they had never heard of Yahia, nor of Uday ever using doubles.
Personal life Yahia currently lives in
Monaco. He is married and has 5 children. He also lived in
Cyprus. ==Film==