THE CULT OF 'COMICAL ALI'
Saddam Hussein may have been keeping a low profile in Baghdad, but one member of the Iraqi regime is basking in the limelight.
The country's Information Minister, Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, has made his own headlines with his smiling denials of the Coalition advance.
As US tanks rumbled in to Saddam's main Baghdad palace, al-Sahhaf claimed they were not even in the city.
A day later he appeared to be almost be grinning as he insisted US forces were on the verge of surrendering.
Such comments have prompted some western newspapers to dub al-Sahhaf the Disinformation Minister, a man who puts even the shadowy spindoctors of Western politics to shame.
It would be easy to ridicule him. Just his appearance - a tight black beret and arched eyebrows - makes him seem like a surreal comedy villain.
But across the world he is wooing a growing army of fans - one woman told a British radio phone-in she found him "sexy".
His appearance may well be distinctive - he's without the black moustache common among Arab men.
Briefing journalists
It's not his looks, though, but his way with words that television viewers like- even if they don't always believe what is coming from his mouth.
His enemies are never just the Americans or the British. They are "outlaws", "war criminals", "fools", "stooges" - an "international gang of villains".
Faisal Salman, managing editor of the Lebanese newspaper As-Safir, wrote that Arab TV viewers "are eager to listen to his funny words".
Some even call his press conferences the "al-Sahhaf show".
Associated Press reporter Sam Ghattas, based in Qatar, said viewers "get a kick" out of al-Sahhaf's attempts to mock George Bush and Tony Blair.
Ghattas pointed out that the Iraqi's colourful language has included insults even Arab viewers find baffling.
His use of "uluj," an obscure and particularly insulting term for "infidel", sent many leafing through their dictionaries and calling TV stations to find out what he meant, Ghattas said.
On Iraqi TV
But despite his apparant good nature in front of the cameras, al-Sahhaf is a ruthless member of Saddam's regime.
He recently read out on Iraqi TV a statement from Saddam which called on Muslims to unite in jihad, or holy war, against Britain and America.
A Shi'ite Muslim from a middle class background in Hillah, south of Baghdad, al-Sahhaf was studying to be an English teacher when he began his career in politics.
In 1963 he joined a violent group led by Saddam that targeted opponents of the Ba'ath Party.
He then proved his loyalty to Saddam by revealing the whereabouts of his brother-in-law, an army general and the country's military prosecutor.
His relative was then killed by Ba'ath Party militias, and al-Sahhaf's future was secured.
When the Ba'ath Party took power, he was soon put in charge of Iraq's radio and television stations.
He was known for his temper, often kicking TV and radio employees who he wasn't happy with.
He later served as Iraq's ambassador to India, Italy and the United Nations. He was foreign minister from 1993 to 2001, when he became Saddam's Information Minister.
Al-Sahhaf, now in his 60s, has become one of the most talked about figures of the Iraq war.
The world now waits to see his fate.
Link
Saddam Hussein may have been keeping a low profile in Baghdad, but one member of the Iraqi regime is basking in the limelight.
The country's Information Minister, Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, has made his own headlines with his smiling denials of the Coalition advance.
As US tanks rumbled in to Saddam's main Baghdad palace, al-Sahhaf claimed they were not even in the city.
A day later he appeared to be almost be grinning as he insisted US forces were on the verge of surrendering.
Such comments have prompted some western newspapers to dub al-Sahhaf the Disinformation Minister, a man who puts even the shadowy spindoctors of Western politics to shame.
It would be easy to ridicule him. Just his appearance - a tight black beret and arched eyebrows - makes him seem like a surreal comedy villain.
But across the world he is wooing a growing army of fans - one woman told a British radio phone-in she found him "sexy".
His appearance may well be distinctive - he's without the black moustache common among Arab men.
Briefing journalists
It's not his looks, though, but his way with words that television viewers like- even if they don't always believe what is coming from his mouth.
His enemies are never just the Americans or the British. They are "outlaws", "war criminals", "fools", "stooges" - an "international gang of villains".
Faisal Salman, managing editor of the Lebanese newspaper As-Safir, wrote that Arab TV viewers "are eager to listen to his funny words".
Some even call his press conferences the "al-Sahhaf show".
Associated Press reporter Sam Ghattas, based in Qatar, said viewers "get a kick" out of al-Sahhaf's attempts to mock George Bush and Tony Blair.
Ghattas pointed out that the Iraqi's colourful language has included insults even Arab viewers find baffling.
His use of "uluj," an obscure and particularly insulting term for "infidel", sent many leafing through their dictionaries and calling TV stations to find out what he meant, Ghattas said.
On Iraqi TV
But despite his apparant good nature in front of the cameras, al-Sahhaf is a ruthless member of Saddam's regime.
He recently read out on Iraqi TV a statement from Saddam which called on Muslims to unite in jihad, or holy war, against Britain and America.
A Shi'ite Muslim from a middle class background in Hillah, south of Baghdad, al-Sahhaf was studying to be an English teacher when he began his career in politics.
In 1963 he joined a violent group led by Saddam that targeted opponents of the Ba'ath Party.
He then proved his loyalty to Saddam by revealing the whereabouts of his brother-in-law, an army general and the country's military prosecutor.
His relative was then killed by Ba'ath Party militias, and al-Sahhaf's future was secured.
When the Ba'ath Party took power, he was soon put in charge of Iraq's radio and television stations.
He was known for his temper, often kicking TV and radio employees who he wasn't happy with.
He later served as Iraq's ambassador to India, Italy and the United Nations. He was foreign minister from 1993 to 2001, when he became Saddam's Information Minister.
Al-Sahhaf, now in his 60s, has become one of the most talked about figures of the Iraq war.
The world now waits to see his fate.
Link
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