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 Iraqi information minister becomes star of Iraq-U.S. war
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Dears All
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Here is What they are thinking about Uluj Assahaf>
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Faisal
Iraqi information minister becomes star of Iraq-U.S. war
By SAM F. GHATTAS - Associated Press Writer
DOHA, Qatar (AP) _ In the propaganda war that runs parallel to the ground war in Iraq, Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf is Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's sharp-tongued mouthpiece _ and an increasingly popular figure among Arabs seething over scenes of a burning Arab capital and dying Arab civilians.
Arab viewers of al-Sahhaf's news conferences broadcast live daily from Baghdad get a kick out of his ridiculing of U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. He's even introduced insults virtually unknown to the Arab public. His use «uluj,» an obscure and particularly insulting term for «infidel,» sent viewers leafing through their dictionaries and calling TV stations for a definition.
On Thursday, an unfazed Sahhaf scoffed at reports U.S. forces were on the doorstep of his capital. «They have no foothold in Iraq,» he told reporters in Baghdad. «We will welcome them with bullets and shoes» _ being hit with a shoe is a grave insult in the Arab world.
His enemies are never just the Americans or the British.
They are «outlaws,» «war criminals,» «fools,» «stooges,» an «international gang of villains.» Al-Sahhaf has singled out U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald
Rumsfeld, describing him as a «crook» and «the most despicable creature.»
«I am sorry for using such language,» he said in a recent interview on one of the Arab satellite stations that broadcast his briefings across the Arab world. «But with criminals who are killing the sons of our people with bombs, insults are not enough.»
Sahhaf's face, clean-shaven in contrast to most Iraqi officials who sport Saddam-style mustaches, has become a TV fixture, along with his black beret and green Baath party uniform.
«American cruise Tomahawk missiles bomb Iraq, and al-Sahhaf missiles of words deafen the American and allied ears,» read a headline in the Saudi-owned pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat on Thursday.
Viewers «don't exactly pause at what he (al-Sahhaf) says as much as they are eager to listen to his funny words,» wrote Faisal Salman, managing editor of the Lebanese newspaper As-Safir, in his daily column.
Mohamed Fati, a 28-year-old cameraman with Egyptian television, is a fan of what some have dubbed the «al-Sahhaf show.» «In the first days of war, we were waiting for the Iraqi side to confirm or deny Americans' information. Now we wait for the revolutionary guy, who aggressively insults the Americans and makes fun of them despite his country's heavy losses,» Fati said in Cairo.
Mohammed Adeeb Dumeh, head of the professional committee of the Jordan Press Association, said al-Sahhaf was simply playing one of the games of war. «Even the American soldiers, they write insults against Saddam Hussein on their missiles, What do you expect from the Iraqis?» Dumeh said in Amman Thursday
Al-Sahhaf is no stranger to the media and its impact _ and to Iraq's rough politics. He was studying to be an English teacher when he began his career in politics 1963 by joining a violent group led by Saddam that targeted opponents of the Baath party. During a 1968 coup, he was charged with securing the radio and television stations and was later put in charge of both outlets. He was known for his temper and even meting out physical punishment to TV and radio employees.
He also has served as Iraq's ambassador to India, Italy and the United Nations.
Al-Sahhaf, who is in his early 60s, has been information minister since 2001 and from 1993 to 2001 was foreign minister.
Although al-Sahhaf has become the prominent face of the regime of late, he does not have the political and military weight as the relatives and clansmen who are Saddam's closest lieutenants.
Still, it was al-Sahhaf who this week delivered short message in the president's name calling for jihad, or holy war, and urging Iraqis to fight on.
Saddam also used al-Sahhaf to deliver some of his more conciliatory messages. Late last year, al-Sahhaf apologized in a statement in the president's name to the people of Kuwait for the 1990 Iraqi invasion of their country. The statement, though, went on to criticize the Kuwaiti leadership for relying on American help.
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Faisal Salih
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