DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - The former Iraqi information minister, who gained notoriety during the war for wildly implausible claims of victory, showed up on Arab television Thursday — his first appearance since the collapse of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s regime.
Al-Arabiya satellite network broadcast a few seconds of footage of Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, part of a 30-minute interview it said it conducted with him in Baghdad on Thursday. The TV network said it would air the full interview Friday.
The network said al-Sahhaf claimed he had surrendered to American forces, was interrogated and released.
He “was exclusively interviewed in his hide-out in Baghdad,” al-Arabiya said in a statement sent to The Associated Press. The network did not say where the hide-out is.
The interview will include “important information about the last war and the fall of the Iraqi regime,” al-Arabiya said.
In Thursday’s clip, al-Sahhaf appeared fit, but with graying hair — a departure from his previous look of black hair and military uniform.
Al-Sahhaf appeared on television worldwide in daily briefing for the international press in Baghdad before and during the U.S.-led war, speaking about Iraqi military successes and insulting coalition forces, President Bush (news - web sites) and British Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites).
Al-Sahhaf disappeared April 9, the day Baghdad fell to coalition forces. The man sometimes referred to as ‘Baghdad Bob’ is not on the list of the 55 most wanted Iraqi officials.