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I did my duty to the last, says Saddam's Information Minister

Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf on the Arab television on Thursday. — AP

DUBAI JUNE 27. Iraq's former Information Minister, famed for pugnacious and transparently false claims during the war, now says his bogus statements were made in good faith and that he was getting scant information toward the end of the conflict.

Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf showed up on Arab television on Thursday in his first appearance since the collapse of the Saddam Hussein's regime. Mr. Al-Sahhaf had been a regular sight on TV before and during the U.S.-led war, speaking about non-existent Iraqi military successes and insulting coalition forces.

"I was an Information Minister, and I fulfilled my duty to the last moment," he told Abu Dhabi television in an interview on Thursday. "During the last two days, I was in contact with only a few military men."

Mr. Al-Sahhaf insisted that he had been convinced of what he had told the international media.

He also granted an interview to the Al-Arabiya satellite network, in which he claimed he had surrendered to American forces, was questioned and let go, according to an excerpt from the interview. The full 30-minute interview was scheduled for Friday night.

In the Abu Dhabi interview, al-Sahhaf referred to his famous denial in April that U.S. tanks were in Baghdad, even as television pictures showed them in the city. He acknowledged that he had known they were there, but said the Iraqi military had promised him it was not a problem.

"But there were few tanks, and the military sources said that they would deal with the infiltration and that the situation was under control," he said.

"The information was correct, but the interpretation was not correct."

Mr. Al-Sahhaf also said he didn't know the whereabouts of Iraq's fugitive leadership, and hinted that he might write book. The interviews came after a Wednesday report in Britain's Daily Mirror that Al-Sahhaf had been taken into custody. The Dubai-based Al-Arabiya said their interview, conducted in a Baghdad suburb, aimed to dispel that claim.

"I was interrogated about a number of subjects related to my job. After that, I was released," he said. Mr. Al-Sahhaf is not on the list of the 55 most wanted Iraqi officials. — AP

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