Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf | |
|---|---|
 Al-Sahhaf in 1996 | |
| Minister of Information | |
| President | Saddam Hussein |
| Preceded by | Humam Abd al-Khaliq Abd al-Ghafur |
| Succeeded by | Ministry dissolved |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
| President | Saddam Hussein |
| Preceded by | Tariq Aziz |
| Succeeded by | Naji Sabri |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf |
| Political party | Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region |
| Nicknames |
|
Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf (Arabic: محمد سعيد الصحاف; Muḥammad Saʿīd Al-Ṣaḥḥāf)[citation needed] is an Iraqi former diplomat and politician. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1992 to 2001. He came to worldwide prominence around the 2003 invasion of Iraq, during which he was the Minister of Information under Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, acting as spokesman for the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party and Saddam's government. He has also been nicknamed Baghdad Bob or Comical Ali (a play on "Chemical Ali") for his notable and colorful television appearances as the Information Minister of Iraq.
Al-Sahhaf was born in Hilla, near Karbala, to a Shi'ite Arab family. After studying journalism[1] at Baghdad University, he graduated with a master's degree in English literature.[2] He planned to become an English teacher[1] before joining the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party in 1963. In the early days of Ba'athist governance, he read out regular announcements of recently executed Iraqis on state television.[3]
He served as an ambassador to Sweden, Burma, the United Nations and Italy, before returning to Iraq to serve as Foreign Minister in 1992.[1] The reasons for his removal as Foreign Minister in April 2001 are unclear, but his achievements in the position were often claimed to be less satisfactory than that of his predecessor, Tariq Aziz. At least one report suggests that Uday Hussein, Saddam Hussein's son, was responsible for the removal.[1]
Al-Sahhaf is known for his daily press briefings in Baghdad during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. His colorful appearances caused him to be nicknamed "Baghdad Bob"[4] (in the style of previous propagandists with geographical aliases—some of them alliterative, such as "Hanoi Hannah" and "Seoul City Sue") by commentators in the United States. He was nicknamed "Comical Ali" by commentators in the United Kingdom; commentators in Italy similarly nicknamed him "Alì il Comico". These nicknames were given because he made statements about the conflict that were wildly at odds with reality, and western media treated him as a parody during the initial stages of the Iraq War.[5]
His pronouncements included claims that American soldiers were committing suicide "by the hundreds" outside the city, and denial that there were any American tanks in Baghdad, when in fact they were only several hundred meters away from the press conference where he was speaking and the combat sounds of nearing American troops could already be heard in the background.[6] On another occasion, he spoke of the disastrous outcomes of previous foreign attempts to invade Iraq, citing an unspecified Western history book and inviting the journalists present to come to his home to read it. His last public appearance as Information Minister was on 8 April 2003, when he said that the Americans "are going to surrender or be burned in their tanks. They will surrender; it is they who will surrender".[7] When asked where he had gotten his information, he replied, "authentic sources—many authentic sources".[8] He pointed out that he "was a professional, doing his job".[8]
He frequently used the word ‘ulūj (علوج), an obscure and particularly insulting term for infidels, to describe the American forces in Iraq. This caused some debate in the Arabic-language media about the exact meaning of the word, with most concluding it meant "bloodsucking insect". In an August 2003 interview on Abu Dhabi TV, al-Sahhaf said it was an archaic term attributed to Umar ibn Al-Khattāb.[9]
US intelligence analysts later concluded that Al-Sahhaf confidently made false statements because he genuinely believed in what he was saying. As the American forces approached Baghdad, the Iraqi army falsely reported that they had successfully counterattacked US forces, destroying numerous tanks and killing hundreds of American troops. Army Col. Steve Boltz, the deputy chief of intelligence for V Corps, expressed that they held the belief that Al-Sahhaf sincerely held the information he reported to be true. Boltz theorized that because Saddam's regime was known for frequently punishing those who delivered bad news, military officers would fabricate reports about the battlefield situation. This systemic self-deception within the Iraqi hierarchy led to a surprising lack of awareness when the Americans entered the capital, with some captured Iraqi officers later bewilderingly admitting that they had no idea that the US forces had been so close.[10]
Al-Sahhaf gained something of a cult following in the West, appearing on T-shirts, cartoons, and in Internet phenomena.[11] In the UK, a DVD documentary was sold about his exploits and televised interviews, called Comical Ali.
On 25 June 2003, British newspaper the Daily Mirror reported that al-Sahhaf had been captured by coalition troops at a roadblock in Baghdad.[4] The report was not confirmed by military authorities and was denied by al-Sahhaf's family through Abu Dhabi TV. The next day, al-Sahhaf recorded an interview for Dubai-based news channel al-Arabiya.[12] He was reportedly paid as much as US$200,000 for the television interview, during which he appeared very withdrawn, in contrast with the bombastic persona he projected during the war. Many of his answers consisted of a simple "yes" or "no". He refused to speculate on the causes of the downfall of the Iraqi government and answered only "history will tell" when asked if video clips purporting to prove that Saddam Hussein was alive were genuine, amid speculation at that time that Hussein had been killed during the war.
His fame quickly evaporated as the war continued into the insurgency phase; from the middle of 2003 onward, he faded from the public spotlight, and was no longer a figure in the war. Al-Sahhaf said that he had surrendered to United States forces, had been interrogated by them and then released.[13][14] He was not charged for his role in Saddam Hussein's government.[14]
In March 2008, it was reported by The Times that al-Sahhaf was living in the United Arab Emirates.[15]
