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| Iraq |
| Ex-Iraq Info Minister Gets TV Job Offer |
| 2003-04-29 |
| All Info Man, all the time. Now we know why he wants out... 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 experience of Mr Sahaf and his analysis of the current situation and the future of Iraq," Hadethi said, without giving details of the job package. He can become another TV "expert". But on what, I don't know. Arabiya television executive Hadethi, asked about Sahaf's exaggerated statements at his daily briefings, said he "was a member of the former regime and had to say what the government wanted. He was repeating what was being given to him without being able to verify the truth." Hadethi said his network was already using Saddam's former U.N. ambassador, Mohammed Aldouri, as an analyst in Dubai. See, it all worked out for him. Sahaf, with his trademark beret and standing behind a forest of microphones, quickly built up a worldwide following as his daily briefings departed more and more from objective reality. A Web site, welovetheiraqiinformationminister.com, sprang up only to be forced offline by a rush of global interest that attracted up to 4,000 hits a second. Once Saddam had been toppled, even President Bush admitted he was a Sahaf fan. "He's my man, he was great," Bush enthused in an interview with NBC's Tom Brokaw. "Somebody accused us of hiring him and putting him there. He was a classic." Bush is a riot! |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #4 Poor Hillary Clinton. She will be so disappointed. You know she was hoping that he'd be available as her press secretary. I bet her PI's are working overtime to find him and extend an offer. |
| Posted by: Becky 2003-04-29 19:49:51 |
| #3 Three months from now: "Live from the evil city of the infidels whose stomachs will roast in hell when they are smitten by the hand of Allah before the gates of Baghdad and who still haven't reached the airport....It's Saturday Night!!!" |
| Posted by: Matt 2003-04-29 13:18:11 |
| #2 "...Sahaf, who does not figure on Washington's list of 55 most-wanted Iraqis..." Hey, I thought he was the Joker! |
| Posted by: MW 2003-04-29 12:42:49 |
| #1 Heh. Rumor was he'd be call out of cabinet meetings to catch Sahaf on TV. |
| Posted by: Ptah 2003-04-29 11:20:10 |