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During the war he was the oddball public face of America's enemy Iraq, but now there are claims that Mohammad Said Sahaf, the former information minister, cannot get himself arrested. The minister, nicknamed "Comical Ali" for his eccentric denials that Iraqi forces were being overrun, is said to have tried to turn himself in to the Americans. But they refused, as he was not on their list of the 55 most wanted members of Saddam Hussein's regime. A senior Kurdish official said that Sahaf had been holed up at a relative's house in central Baghdad for a week near a...

DUBAI (AFP) - An Arab TV news channel has offered a job to Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s top spin doctor, former Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Said al-Sahhaf. Sahhaf, who became a global celebrity for his persistant refusal to admit that US troops were in Baghdad, has been told by the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya channel that there is a job waiting for him. "We see no problem in having Mr. Sahhaf join us. First of all, Sahhaf is not on the list of the 55 Iraqis most wanted by the Americans, and he won international fame (during the Iraqi war)....

DUBAI (Reuters) - An Arab television network said on Tuesday it wants to give a job to former Iraqi information minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf, whose colorful daily briefings during the U.S.-led invasion won him a cult following. Ali al-Hadethi, supervisor of the Dubai-based al-Arabiya satellite channel, told Reuters that Sahaf, who does not figure on Washington's list of 55 most-wanted Iraqis, was welcome to join the network immediately as a commentator and analyst. Hadethi said he did not know the former minister's whereabouts and asked him to contact Arabiya to take up his job. "We want to benefit from the...

Iraq-US-Sahhaf-wanted 04-29 0373 US forces turn down Sahhaf's surrender overtures: Arabic daily CAIRO, April 29 (AFP) - Iraq's former information minister Mohammad Said al-Sahhaf, who denied to the end the presence of US forces in Baghdad, was turned down by US troops after trying to turn himself in, said the London-based Arab newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat on Tuesday, citing a Kurdish official. Sahhaf has been at his aunt's house in Baghdad for the past four days and had wanted US troops to arrest him so that "they can protect him" but they refused since he was not on their "most wanted"...

Operation Iraqi Freedom Link to the previous thread Good Morning. This is the Daily Thread of Operation Iraqi Freedom - Situation Room - LIVE THREAD. It is designed for general conversation about the events of the day. In depth discussion of events should be left to individual threads - but links to the threads or other articles is highly encouraged. This allows us to stay abreast of the situation in general, while also providing a means of obtaining specific information.

A high ranking Patriotic Union of Kurdistan official has announced that the former Iraqi Information Minister, Mohamed Saeed Al-Sahaf, nicknamed, 'Hama Saee' and 'Uluj' in Kurdistan, is ready to surrender to American forces, the Iranian newspaper Yasenu reported.The paper said that Al-Sahaf's surrender is conditional, quoting from an unnamed high ranking official of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, without referring to Al-Sahaf's hideout.Al-Sahaf was the Information Minister during the war in Iraq.He became the face of the Iraqi regieme during the war and gained fame for his misleading infomation as well as denial of the presence of American forces in...

Operation Iraqi Freedom Link to the previous thread Good Morning. This is the Daily Thread of Operation Iraqi Freedom - Situation Room - LIVE THREAD. It is designed for general conversation about the events of the day. In depth discussion of events should be left to individual threads - but links to the threads or other articles is highly encouraged. This allows us to stay abreast of the situation in general, while also providing a means of obtaining specific information.

INC: Former Iraqi information minister negotiates surrender deal 27-04-2003, 20:56 An official at Iraq's leading opposition group, the Iraqi National Congress (INC) has disclosed to Al Bawaba that in the past two days there has been contacts with Mohammad Said al-Sahaf, Saddam Hussein's Information Minister, regarding his surrender. According to Nabil al Musawi, the deal will be completed soon. Musawi said that although al-Sahaf's name is not included on the list of most wanted Iraqis by US forces, "he is wanted by the Iraqis". Last week, the Portuguese daily Diario de Noticias reported that the minister whose briefings made him...

France colluded with the Iraqi secret service to undermine a Paris conference held by the prominent human rights group Indict, according to documents found in the foreign ministry in Baghdad. Various documents state that the Iraqis believed the French were doing their utmost to prevent the meeting from going ahead. Ann Clwyd, the Labour MP who chairs Indict, said last night that she would be demanding an apology from the French government for its behaviour, which she described as "atrocious". The files, retrieved from the looted and burned foreign ministry by The Telegraph last week, detail the warmth and strength...

Operation Iraqi Freedom Link to the previous thread Good Morning. This is the Daily Thread of Operation Iraqi Freedom - Situation Room - LIVE THREAD. It is designed for general conversation about the events of the day. In depth discussion of events should be left to individual threads - but links to the threads or other articles is highly encouraged. This allows us to stay abreast of the situation in general, while also providing a means of obtaining specific information.

THE year was 1993 and Iraq had a problem. It desperately needed some parts for one of its power stations but the equipment, manufactured by a company in Britain, was being blocked under United Nations sanctions. Up sprang Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf. He was then foreign minister but was latterly better known as the overly optimistic information chief nicknamed Comical Ali after claiming that American troops were being slaughtered at the gates of Baghdad when they were actually seizing control of the city. Al-Sahaf had a plan. Like many of his other schemes that came to light last week in documents...

Minister still a mine of misinformation April 26 2003 Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf, the Iraqi information minister whose briefings made him a worldwide celebrity during the war and who is high on a list of people wanted by the United States, tried to hand himself in via a contact with Portuguese journalists, a newspaper reported. The Portuguese daily Diario de Noticias said on Thursday that a family claiming to be sheltering Sahaf, in a poor neighbourhood of Baghdad, had been in contact with two journalists, but they had failed to come up with the former information chief. The reporters, one from...

Operation Iraqi Freedom Link to the previous thread Good Morning. This is the Daily Thread of Operation Iraqi Freedom - Situation Room - LIVE THREAD. It is designed for general conversation about the events of the day. In depth discussion of events should be left to individual threads - but links to the threads or other articles is highly encouraged. This allows us to stay abreast of the situation in general, while also providing a means of obtaining specific information.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Now that the campaign to topple Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) appears to be over, even U.S. President George W. Bush (news - web sites) admits he is a fan of the public relations style of former Iraqi information minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf. "He's my man, he was great," Bush enthused in an interview with NBC's Tom Brokaw on Thursday. "Somebody accused us of hiring him and putting him there. He was a classic." Bush said he had made a point of watching Sahaf, as well as scenes such as the toppling of a huge bronze...

Even Bush is fan of Iraqi information minister WASHINGTON, April 24 (Reuters) - Now that the campaign to topple Saddam Hussein appears to be over, even U.S. President George W. Bush admits he is a fan of the public relations style of former Iraqi information minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf. "He's my man, he was great," Bush enthused in an interview with NBC's Tom Brokaw on Thursday. "Somebody accused us of hiring him and putting him there. He was a classic." Bush said he had made a point of watching Sahaf, as well as scenes such as the toppling of a...

Lisbon - Mohammad Said al-Sahhaf, the Iraqi information minister whose briefings made him a worldwide celebrity during the recent war and who is now high on a list of people wanted by the United States, tried to hand himself in via a contact with Portuguese journalists, a newspaper said on Thursday. The Portuguese daily Diario de Noticias said a family claiming to be sheltering Sahhaf, reportedly in the women's section of a home in a poor neighbourhood of Baghdad, had been in contact with two journalists, but they had failed to come up with the former information chief. The reporters,...

Iraqi Information Minister Reports on SARS Outbreak Thursday, April 24, 2003Baghdad, Iraq-Baghdad Bob is back and he is speaking about SARS and the effects it is causing on the war. The Iraqi News Service has a pirated feed from an undisclosed location that is jamming regular broadcasts. The Iraqis are scrambling to buy face masks and vinegar. Saddam's small circle of supporters have begun disinfecting everything. Quarantines have been put into action to control the outbreak from spreading further through the bomb shelter. Click here to see the report.

Saddam Hussein sought to protect George Galloway by severing the Iraqi intelligence service's contacts with the Labour backbencher, according to an official document found by The Daily Telegraph in Baghdad. This letter, found in the files of the Iraqi foreign ministry, explained that any disclosure of Mr Galloway's "relationship" with the Mukhabarat, which operated as both secret police and intelligence service, would do great harm to his political career. A letter from Izzat Ibrahim, Saddam's deputy on the Ba'ath Party's Revolutionary Command Council, dated May 6, 2000 stated that: "It is better not to engage the Mukhabarat in the relationship...

My [wife] caught a report by Fox News Channel's Eric Shawn about the U.N. oil-for-food program. This hasn't been picked up anywhere, but it will come as a blockbuster revelation for anyone wondering why the French, Germans and Russians stood in the way of liberating Iraq. This program was supposed to help the starving Iraqi people. Instead, it was a cash cow. This is why I always tell you: follow the money. Kofi Annan personally oversaw this program, and okayed requests under this program for things like laser light show equipment and cartoon making apparatus for Baghdad Bob. The United...