Iraqi information minister released, makes TV appearance

Iraqi information minister makes TV appearance

Former Iraqi information minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf, who earned the nickname ‘Comical Ali’ during the Iraq war, has appeared on Arab TV after he was questioned by US forces and then released.

Mr Sahaf, who handed himself over to the Americans, was shown without his familiar military fatigues and beret, standing in a room chatting with an al-Arabiya reporter.

His hair was completely grey and close cropped.

“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 tired-looking and thin Mr Sahaf said in a clip aired by the channel.

“A difficult situation has passed by, not for one person but for everyone,” he said in measured tones in another clip.

Al-Arabiya TV says in a statement it will air a full interview with Mr Sahaf later today containing “much important information about the recent war and the fall of the Iraqi regime”.

US military spokesmen were not immediately available for comment.

A rival Arabic channel, Abu Dhabi TV, has told Reuters it will air its own interview with Mr Sahaf today.

In the interview, Mr Sahaf defends his press briefings during the conflict.

Mr Sahaf, who was not on the US “most wanted” list, gained his unflattering nickname for proclaiming the defeat of US forces even as they moved into Baghdad and for his habit of handling loaded weapons during news conferences.

“The information I received from the governorates was more precise and comprehensive than the information I got from the Baghdad area,” an Abu Dhabi spokesman quoted Mr Sahaf as saying.

“I was sincere in everything I said, even just before the fall of Baghdad international airport.”

The figure of Mr Sahaf has spawned a mini industry in the West, spawning t-shirts, mugs, dolls and videos, and a raft of websites poking fun at his rhetorical style.

In the Arab world, Mr Sahaf gained fame during the conflict for his colourful use of the Arabic language, using archaic insults to describe the invaders which had commentators throughout the region debating their meaning and poring over dictionaries.

Arabs are split between those who lampoon him as a symbol of state-controlled media and admirers who see him as a nationalist who did his duty.

He has been the subject of comedy sketches and an Egyptian director has a film in the works about him.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/justin/nat/newsnat-27jun2003-12.htm