'Comical Ali' resurfaces
2003-04-23 21:52
London - Iraq's former information minister Mohammad Said al-Sahhaf, famed for insisting his country was defeating US troops even as Baghdad fell, has found a new role - in a bitter advertising war between rival airlines.
Irish-based budget carrier Ryanair has courted controversy by using Sahhaf's image in newspaper advertisements rubbishing its rival, Britain's easyJet.
In one of a series of Ryanair advertisements slamming easyJet, Sahhaf is pictured supposedly saying: "We're winning the war. We're beating the Americans. EasyJet have the lowest fares."
The captions play on Sahhaf's insistence during the war that US troops were being routed, despite mounting evidence to the contrary, most famously the appearance of a US tank on a Baghdad street just behind him.
He has already become a cult figure, even inspiring a US toymaker to produce a talking doll modelled on him.
The minister himself vanished when US forces took over the Iraqi capital on April 9, while unconfirmed press reports claim that he has committed suicide.
EasyJet spokesperson Toby Nicholl criticised Ryanair's approach.
"It is in slightly bad taste, especially given that the guy might have killed himself," he said.
"The war is a very serious business, and maybe not the sort of thing to joke about."
As for the specific claims, Nicholl said that easyJet never claimed to be cheaper than its rival, only that it served more centrally-located airports.
Ryanair, which flies from its main hub near London to a series of European destinations, helps to keep costs down by often using less-busy airports some distance from the cities which they serve.