A Soldiers Blog

From: spliffslips



--------------------
Iraqi information minister stands by his stories
--------------------

'Authentic sources' cited in false claims of victory

Associated Press

June 27, 2003







DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Iraq's former information minister, who gained notoriety during the war for wildly implausible claims of victory, went on Arab television yesterday and stood by his statements, saying they came from "many authentic sources."

Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf denied that U.S. tanks were in Baghdad even as television showed them in the capital.

"There is no presence of American infidels in the city of Baghdad," al-Sahhaf asserted outside the Palestine Hotel on April 7. Baghdad fell April 9.

In his first appearance since the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime - an interview with the Al-Arabiya satellite network, al-Sahhaf did not directly back down from some of his false claims during the war.

Asked where he got his information, he said: "From authentic sources. Many authentic sources. And these also will be dealt with by history."

Al-Sahhaf said he had surrendered to American forces, was questioned and let go.

"Through friends, I went to the Americans," he said. "I was interrogated about a number of subjects related to my job. After that, I was released."

The interview came a day after Britain's Daily Mirror reported that al-Sahhaf had been taken into custody. The Dubai-based station said the interview aimed to dispel that claim.

A Defense Department spokesman, Col. Jay DeFrank, said the U.S. Central Command had no information on his being in American custody.

Al-Arabiya showed a five-minute segment of the 30- minute interview conducted yesterday in a Baghdad suburb.

In the excerpt, al-Sahhaf was reluctant to talk about the fall of Hussein's regime.

"The time is not ripe yet to say what happened. When history is ready, then we can talk about it," he said. "It was a difficult situation, not for one individual, but for everybody."

Al-Sahhaf said he was not afraid of the future. "Everyone could face something that hurts him. But I don't expect that I will be hurt," he said.

He appeared fit in civilian clothes. But al-Sahhaf was thinner and his hair was white - a sharp change from his previous look of military fatigues and black hair tucked under a beret.

The full interview will include "important information about the last war and the fall of the Iraqi regime," Al-Arabiya said.

Al-Sahhaf "was exclusively interviewed in his hide-out in Baghdad," it said.

Abu Dhabi television said it, too, had an interview with al-Sahhaf, which it planned to air late yesterday.

Al-Sahhaf appeared on television in daily press briefings in Baghdad before and during the U.S.-led war, speaking about Iraqi military successes and insulting coalition forces, President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

When the Palestine Hotel came under U.S. tank fire April 8, he had to admit that coalition forces were in the capital. But, smiling, he made it sound like it was all part of Iraq's plan.

"We blocked them inside the city. Their rear is blocked," he said in hurried remarks that were a departure from his daily news conference.

Al-Sahhaf disappeared April 9, the day Baghdad fell. He is not on the list of the 55 most-wanted Iraqi officials.

A month ago, Al-Arabiya announced that it would offer al-Sahhaf a job as a commentator on Iraqi affairs if it located him. He might not be credible, station officials said, but he is popular and was in the Iraqi regime.





Copyright (c) 2003, The Baltimore Sun

Link to the article:
http://www.sunspot.net/bal-te.minister27jun27,0,4682744.story

Visit http://www.sunspot.net

Get home delivery of The Sun
http://www.sunspot.net/subscribe