Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf ( ar, محمد سعيد الصحاف '; born 30 July 1937) 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
The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...
, during which he was the
Minister of Information
An information minister (also called minister of information) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with information matters; it is often linked with censorship and propaganda. Sometimes the position is given to ...
under Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolutio ...
, 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
Ali Hassan Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti ( ar, علي حسن عبد المجيد التكريت, ʿAlī Ḥasan ʿAbd al-Majīd al-Tikrītī; 30 November 1941 – 25 January 2010), nicknamed Chemical Ali ( ar, علي الكيمياوي, ʿAlī al-Kīm ...
") for his notable and colorful television appearances as the Information Minister of Iraq.
Early life and career
Al-Sahhaf was born in
Hilla
Hillah ( ar, ٱلْحِلَّة ''al-Ḥillah''), also spelled Hilla, is a city in central Iraq on the Hilla branch of the Euphrates River, south of Baghdad. The population is estimated at 364,700 in 1998. It is the capital of Babylon Province a ...
, near
Karbala, to a
Shi'ite
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most ...
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
family. After studying journalism
at
Baghdad University
The University of Baghdad (UOB) ( ar, جامعة بغداد ''Jāmi'at Baghdād'') is the largest university in Iraq, tenth largest in the Arab world, and the largest university in the Arab world outside Egypt.
Nomenclature
Both University ...
, he graduated with a master's degree in
English literature. He planned to become an English teacher
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.
He served as an ambassador to Sweden, Burma, the United Nations and Italy, before returning to Iraq to serve as Foreign Minister in 1992.
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
Tariq Aziz ( ar, طارق عزيز , 28 April 1936 – 5 June 2015) was an Iraqi politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and a close advisor of President Saddam Hussein. Their association began in the 1950s wh ...
. At least one report suggests that
Uday Hussein
Uday Saddam Hussein ( ar, عدي صدام حسين; 18 June 1964 – 22 July 2003) was an Iraqi politician and the eldest son of Saddam Hussein. He held numerous positions as a sports chairman, military officer and businessman, and was the head ...
, Saddam Hussein's son, was responsible for the removal.
Invasion of Iraq
Nicknames
Al-Sahhaf is known for his daily press briefings in
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...
during the
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...
. His colorful appearances caused him to be nicknamed "Baghdad Bob"
(in the style of previous propagandists with geographical aliases—some of them alliterative, such as "
Hanoi Hannah
Trịnh Thị Ngọ (; 1931 – 30 September 2016), also known as Thu Hương and Hanoi Hannah, was a Vietnamese radio personality best known for her work during the Vietnam War, when she made English-language broadcasts for North Vietnam dire ...
" and "
Seoul City Sue
Anna Wallis Suh (1900–1969), the woman generally associated with the nickname "Seoul City Sue," was an American Methodist missionary, educator, and North Korean propaganda radio announcer to United States forces during the Korean War.
Su ...
") 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".
Announcements
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. 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". When asked where he had gotten his information, he replied, "authentic sources—many authentic sources".
He pointed out that he "was a professional, doing his job".
He frequently used the word ''‘ulūj'' (), an obscure and particularly insulting term for
infidels, to describe the American forces in Iraq. This caused some debate in the
Arabic-language
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
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
ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ( ar, عمر بن الخطاب, also spelled Omar, ) was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate ...
ibn Al-Khattāb.
Al-Sahhaf gained something of a cult following in the West, appearing on T-shirts, cartoons, and in
Internet phenomena
Social and cultural phenomena specific to the Internet include Internet memes, such as popular themes, catchphrases, images, viral videos, and jokes. When such fads and sensations occur online, they tend to grow rapidly and become more wides ...
. In the UK, a DVD documentary was sold about his exploits and televised interviews, called ''Comical Ali''.
Post-war life
On 25 June 2003, British newspaper the ''
Daily Mirror
The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print c ...
'' reported that al-Sahhaf had been captured by coalition troops at a roadblock in Baghdad.
[ 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
Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
-based news channel al-Arabiya. He was reportedly paid as much as US$
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
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. He was not charged for his role in Saddam Hussein's government.
In March 2008, it was reported by ''The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'' that al-Sahhaf was living in the United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...
.
See also
* Axis Sally
Axis Sally was the generic nickname given to women radio personalities who broadcast English-language propaganda on behalf of the European Axis Powers during World War II. These included:
* Mildred Gillars, a German-American who broadcast for Ge ...
* British Free Corps
The British Free Corps (german: Britisches Freikorps; BFC) was a unit of the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II, made up of British and Dominion prisoners of war who had been recruited by Germany. The unit was originally known as the ...
* Hanoi Hannah
Trịnh Thị Ngọ (; 1931 – 30 September 2016), also known as Thu Hương and Hanoi Hannah, was a Vietnamese radio personality best known for her work during the Vietnam War, when she made English-language broadcasts for North Vietnam dire ...
* Lord Haw-Haw
Lord Haw-Haw was a nickname applied to William Joyce, who broadcast Nazi propaganda to the UK from Germany during the Second World War. The broadcasts opened with "Germany calling, Germany calling", spoken in an affected upper-class English acc ...
* Pyongyang Sally
Pyongyang Sally was an English-speaking woman on North Korean radio stations who broadcast propaganda to U.S. troops during the Korean War. This was used with other forms of propaganda including air-dropped leaflets.
See also
* Hanoi Hannah
* ...
* Tokyo Rose
Tokyo Rose (alternative spelling Tokio Rose) was a name given by Allied troops in the South Pacific during World War II to all female English-speaking radio broadcasters of Japanese propaganda. The programs were broadcast in the South Pacific ...
References
External links
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sahhaf, Muhammad Saeed
1937 births
Living people
Iraqi Muslims
Iraqi propagandists
People from Hillah
Permanent Representatives of Iraq to the United Nations
Ambassadors of Iraq to Sweden
Ambassadors of Iraq to Myanmar
Ambassadors of Iraq to Italy
Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region politicians
Iraqi Shia Muslims
Government ministers of Iraq
Iraqi expatriates in the United Arab Emirates
Foreign ministers of Iraq