Was Saddam Hussein affiliated with the taliban?

No; the Taliban were Afghan madras students trained in Pakistan using Saudi grants to spread Wahhabism (Saudi Arabian government's way of buying off the radicals since the kingdom was founded as a partnership between Ibn Saud and Wahhabi). The Taliban overthrew the government that had been struggling since the Soviets left and naturally allowed terrorist training camps taught by Wahabi clerics. Pakistan recognized them; I don't believe anyone else did including the Arab countries except possibly Saudi Arabia . Iraq under Hussein was secular so feared Wahhabism since it vowed to take out any non-Islamic government. It is also interesting to note that Pakistan allowed their training and likely helped them take over Afghanistan because they thought the Afghan government was too influenced by India.