SOURCE: El Saadawi, Nawal, and Pat Lancaster. “Unveiling the Mind.” Middle East, no. 273 (December 1997): 40-41.

In the following interview, El Saadawi relates her opinion on politics and the controlling elements of fundamentalist religious movements.

On the morning of the day I was to interview Nawal El Saadawi I heard her speaking in a discussion programme on BBC Radio 4. There was growing international concern about Saddam Hussein's decision to bar Americans from all UN weapons inspections. The possible ramifications of his decision were high on the agenda of the discussion panel, which also included former British foreign secretary Douglas Hurd, who held office at the time of the Gulf War.

The purpose of my interview with Nawal El Saadawi had been to discuss the release of her new book The Nawal El Saadawi Reader, a collection of her non-fiction writings which explore a host of the topics that have...