[A-List] Iraq: information minister surfaces

["Michael Keaney" <michael.keaney@xxxxxx>]

Comical Ali concedes defeat

PAUL GALLAGHER
The Scotsman, 27 June 2003

MOHAMMED Saeed al-Sahhaf, the Iraqi information minister, has made his
television comeback - and finally conceded defeat in the second Gulf war.

Saddam Hussein's former spin doctor earned international notoriety and the
nickname "Comical Ali" for his daily media briefings during the conflict
which contradicted the reality of the United States-led advance on Baghdad.

Since his disappearance on 8 April, rumours about his fate have abounded,
including one that he had taken his own life to escape the humiliation of
defeat. This week, it was claimed he was being kept in US custody in Iraq.

However, Sahhaf has proved he is both alive and free by giving a 30-minute
interview, to be broadcast today, to the Arab-based satellite network
al-Arabiya.

Sahhaf acknowledges the fact that Saddam's rule is over and claims he was
arrested and interrogated by US troops at the end of the conflict, but then
released and allowed to live freely in Baghdad.

In an excerpt of the interview broadcast last night, he said: "Via some
friends, I went to the Americans ... and there was an interrogation about a
number of issues concerning my work. After the interrogation, I was
released.

"A difficult situation has passed by, not for one person but for everyone,"
he added.

Sahhaf appears tired and thin in the video clip and his formerly jet-black
hair is slate grey and closely cropped to his head. He is filmed in civilian
clothes, instead of the military uniform and ill-fitting beret he donned
during the conflict.

Sahhaf became a cult comic figure after the start of the war, with his
rhetorical flourishes predicting impending defeat for the American-led
forces and insults directed at George Bush, the US president, and Tony
Blair, the Prime Minister, reproduced on T-Shirts and mugs. "We slaughtered
them and we will continue to slaughter them. God is grilling their stomachs
in hell," is among the most popular.

The minister's brazen spin doctoring and chutzpah is also celebrated on a
website entitled: "We love the Iraqi information minister", where fans
discuss their favourite quotes.

Sahhaf's briefings to the international news networks continued right up
until the collapse of Saddam's regime. He was the last senior minister to
desert his post.

In one strident briefing, the information minister announced: "Iraq will not
be defeated. Iraq has now already achieved victory . apart from some
technicalities."

Days later, he denied that US forces had taken over Baghdad airport, even
when television footage showed American marines at the gates.

"They are nowhere near the airport, they are lost in the desert . they
cannot read a compass . they are retarded," he said.

And on the eve of the toppling of Saddam's statue in the centre of the Iraqi
capital, he said: "There is no presence of American infidels in Baghdad.
They are going to surrender or be burned in their tanks."

It is believed Sahhaf, 63, has been staying at a relative's home in Baghdad
since the end of the war.

He has kept a low profile with his wife, Lamia, his daughter, Thefaf, and
his sons, Ziad and Isama.

Sahhaf did not appear in the deck of cards issued to US soldiers listing the
55 Iraqi leaders wanted for questioning over possible criminal offences
committed while running Saddam's regime.

The al-Arabiya television network, which interviewed Sahhaf, said it plans
to offer the former minister a new career now that Saddam has gone - as a
television presenter and commentator on Iraqi affairs.