The fall of Baghdad two weeks ago has, paradoxically, boosted the popularity of former Iraqi information minister worldwide. Gihan Shahine finds out why When news broke of the sudden fall of Baghdad on 9 April, everybody wondered about the whereabouts of the Iraqi Information Minister Mohamed Said Al-Sahhaf, whose skyrocketing popularity during the war had turned him into a media star. But while the man himself remains mysteriously absent, memories of his gung-ho statements live on, providing material for an endless stream of jokes and cartoons in both Arabic and English. Like, for example, "When Al-Sahhaf was captured he issued a statement confirming he had never been imprisoned;" "When a US soldier asked Al- Sahhaf what uluj means (a curious term Al-Sahhaf repeatedly used to insult the coalition forces, meaning hordes of cattle or infidel warriors), Al-Sahhaf snapped and said it means being tolerant and forgiving!" Cartoonists are also having a field day, putting fanciful words in the former minister's mouth. An example of this is Al-Sahhaf's reassurance that "there was no looting in Baghdad: the event was no more than a shopping festival." Another caricature shows Al-Sahhaf stating defiantly that the destroyed statue of Saddam "was not of the Iraqi president, may God protect him, but of his double, and was only downed for maintenance purposes". Al-Sahhaf was also shown in one cartoon holding a rifle, announcing that he had a new job in North Korea. As spokesman of the former regime, Al-Sahhaf captured the attention of viewers worldwide with his daily dose of bravado and rhetoric, keeping many Arab audiences high on an overdose of optimism during the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq. As a Shi'ite, Al-Sahhaf was not a favourite member of the Sunni-dominated regime. He is reported to have had tense relations with Saddam's son, Uday. Al-Sahhaf was Iraq's foreign minister for almost a decade until 2001, when he was removed and appointed head of the Information Ministry. He began his career as an English teacher after receiving a university degree in journalism. He turned to politics when he joined the Ba'ath Party in 1963, first working as head of the Iraqi Broadcasting Corporation, and was then appointed Iraqi ambassador to Burma, Sweden, India and the United Nations. His final appearance on camera was on 8 April when, with his trademark brand of unflinching confidence, he assured viewers that Baghdad "was safe and protected". The same statement also declared that the invaders would be forced to "surrender and burn in their tanks", were already "committing suicide by the hundreds at the gates of Baghdad" and having "their stomachs grilled in hell". He claimed, "We made them drink poison last night, and Saddam Hussein's soldiers and great forces gave the Americans a lesson which will not be forgotten by history. Honestly." But instead of seeing Baghdad "turned into a quagmire for the villain invaders," a day later people woke to the shocking reality that Baghdad had fallen and all members of the Iraqi regime, including its optimistic spokesman, had disappeared. But shock soon gave way to humour and a spate of cartoons and jokes have inundated Web sites and newspapers ever since, spreading like wildfire around the globe via e-mail and mobile phone text messages. So why is Al-Sahhaf so popular? "The US media hype against Al-Sahhaf is simply a continuation of the psychological warfare that aims to downgrade the Iraqi regime in the eyes of Arab nations, turning it into material for humour and cynicism," said prominent Al-Ahram columnist Salama Ahmed Salama. Egyptians, however, typically use humour to vent their frustration. "At times like these, people normally choose a strong charismatic character as material for jokes," Salama told Al-Ahram Weekly. Al-Sahhaf had an aura of strong defiance matched only by his cache of humour and cynicism. But it was the lexicon of insults which Al-Sahhaf used to demonise the US and British forces that most intrigued the world -- a far cry from the dull military statements made by the coalition forces. This lexicon was varied enough to encourage the Middle East Media Research Institute to collect and translate his best buzzwords, phrases which described the Anglo-American army as awghad (villains), murtazaqa (mercenaries), uluj (hordes of cattle/infidel warriors) and aznab (tails). He branded Bush as "the leader of the international criminal gang of villains", saying both US President George W Bush and US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld deserved to "be beaten with shoes". Prominent Al-Ahram columnist Salah Montasser thinks it was Al-Sahhaf's language that made him so popular. "Al- Sahhaf's speeches were so amusing," said Montasser, "that they would have made him a star anyway, even if Baghdad had been victorious. His style made them so memorable." Montasser himself is a self- proclaimed Al-Sahhaf addict -- he recorded two of the former minister's last press conferences, describing them as "an important legacy". "I used to wake up every day and watch his press conferences with great relish," Montasser told the Weekly. "I believed him because, like all Arabs, I wanted to believe what he said." For Montasser, Al-Sahhaf is a symbol of the "brainwashing tactics of the Iraqi regime". But for Salama, Al- Sahhaf "fulfilled an important role by keeping the spirits of the Arab and Iraqi nation high, right up until the last minute". Explaining the difference between media lies and truth, Salama says misinformation is the exaggeration of real facts in order to magnify supposed resistance and dampen the spirits of the enemy -- a justified media war tactic. "Which, I believe, is what Al-Sahhaf tended to do in the first days of the war," Salama noted, adding that the Anglo- American forces did the same all the way through. "That spin, however, should always keep a link with reality." Al-Sahhaf's later statements, Salama added, did not maintain that link, probably to cover up a bitter reality. "It could be that the regime had little military resistance in Baghdad or that some sort of a deal was made between the Iraqi regime and the US," Salama continued. Al-Sahhaf's initial popularity stemmed from the considerable credibility he gained in the first days of war. In an article published on 24 March, prominent columnist Robert Fisk of The Independent criticised the "misinformation" provided by the Anglo-American armies, which contrasted starkly with "the Iraqi credibility". "So far, Anglo- American armies are handing their propaganda to the Iraqis on a plate," wrote Fisk. As a case in point, he also mentioned BBC hype and claims that purported Umm Qasr had "fallen" and that Nasseriya had been "captured". "Despite all the claptrap put out by the Americans and British in Qatar," Fisk added, "what the Iraqis said on this score was true." Montasser, however, thinks Al-Sahhaf was "just acting on his own". The information minister, he explained, never delivered an official statement in the military sense; he simply dwelt on what the invaders did or failed to do, avoiding any mention of Iraqi plans. "And even when he revealed plans, they were all the work of his own fantasy," Montasser continued. "It was obvious that Al-Sahhaf worked separately from the regime, receiving no solid report from the military leadership. And he had to cover up for [the lack of information] with his great performance." The daily televised statements of Al-Sahhaf, who was dubbed by the foreign media as Saddam Hussein's "optimist", "minister of misinformation" and "comical Ali", turned the former minister into rich material for humour, media profiles and public buzz. Rumours spread earlier this week that Al-Sahhaf had committed suicide to avoid captivity -- a claim that his son Ali, a physician in Dublin, firmly refutes; others report that he fled to Iran. This aside, there is no doubt that Al-Sahhaf's popularity has grown into a global phenomenon. An amateur Web site, created by a group of New Yorkers, called "We Love the Information Minister" features a collection of the former minister's upbeat war briefings, some animated cartoons and jokes speculating on Al-Sahhaf's current whereabouts as well as the types of jobs -- such as marketing manager -- he may be offered in the future. The site has been scoring an average of 4,000 hits per second since it was started on 9 April, and more powerful host computers were required to cope with the Internet traffic. The most striking jokes are those made in Al-Sahhaf's own inimitable style. These jokes show Al-Sahhaf, for example, as an OPEC president shrugging off "global warming" as a "myth invented by eco-criminal infidels". Then we find Al-Sahhaf employing his unique style of marketing in the service of Michael Jackson. "Surgery? Child abuse? Never! Michael Jackson is the most normal person on this planet. It's you who are twisted. What you remember Michael looked like was a conspiracy of the media." Conn Nugent, designer of the site, told reporters it was originally meant as a "private joke", but after the site was spotted by a Pentagon official, news of its existence spread to the media and the visitors flooded in. To cope with the demand, the site is in need of an upgrade, which will be funded by selling T-shirts, mugs and aprons adorned with the former minister's infamous quotes.
