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Job offer to 'Comical Ali'
29/04/2003 20:09 - (SA)
Dubai - An Arab TV news channel has offered a job to Saddam Hussein's top spin doctor, former Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Said al-Sahhaf.
Sahhaf, who became a global celebrity for his persistent refusal to admit that US troops were in Baghdad, has been told by the Dubai-based al-Arabiya channel that there is a job waiting for him.
"We see no problem in having Mr Sahhaf join us. First of all, Sahhaf is not on the list of the 55 Iraqis most wanted by the Americans, and he won international fame (during the Iraqi war). We would be happy to have him on our team," Ali Al-Hedeithy, the head of al-Arabiya said.
During the war, the bespectacled Sahhaf won fans worldwide for his in-your-face defiance as US and British troops swept through the country in their drive to topple Saddam Hussein.
Sahhaf has dropped out of sight since US forces took the Iraqi capital on April 9, abruptly ending Saddam's 24-year-rule.
A Web site in his honour, www.welovetheiraqiinformationminister.com, featuring his most quotable "bons mots" drew an overwhelming response after its launch, attracting 4 000 visitors per second, according to its webmaster.
"There are no American infidels in Baghdad. Never!" reads the first of the "treasury of deathless quotes" on the site. 'He was great' - Bush
Even President George W Bush said last week that he had stepped out of meetings in Washington to catch a few of Sahhaf's daily press conferences.
"He was great," Bush told NBC television.
Al-Arabiya, based in Dubai with operations in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Lebanon, noted that it had already plucked from the ranks of Saddam's officials former UN ambassador Mohammad Aldouri for a recent series of interviews on the Iraq war.
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