'Comical Ali' on Arab TV after US questioning

Former Iraqi information minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf, who earned the nickname "Comical Ali" during the Iraq war, appeared on Arab TV yesterday after he was questioned by US forces and then released.

Shahaf, who handed himself over to the Americans, was shown without his familiar military fatigues and beret, standing in a room chatting with an al-Arabiya reporter. His hair was completely grey and close cropped.

"Via some friends, I went to the Americans... and there was an interrogation about a number of issues concerning my work. After the interrogation, I was released," a tired-looking and thin Sahaf said in a clip aired by the channel.

"A difficult situation has passed by, not for one person but for everyone," he said in measured tones in another clip.

Al-Arabiya TV said in a statement it would air an interview with Sahaf at 1900 GMT today. US military spokesmen were not immediately available for comment.

The former minister, who gained his unflattering nickname for proclaiming the defeat of US forces even as they moved into Baghdad and for his habit of fingering loaded weapons during news conferences, was not on the US "most wanted" list.

The statement said the interview, which was recorded in Baghdad, contained "much important information about the recent war and the fall of the Iraqi regime".

Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper said earlier this week that US troops had arrested Sahaf at a roadblock in a Baghdad suburb.