No!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It may well be the ultimate in spin from the Iraqi minister of information, but this afternoon there are reports circulating that Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf has committed suicide. Two Iranian newspapers today published reports of the minister's demise, which came from Iraqi refugees who took shelter at Iraq's borders near the Iranian town of Dehloran over the past week. They said that Iraq's famed information minister took his own life just hours before Baghdad fell into the hands of the coalition forces last Wednesday. The Iranian newspaper Mardomsalari and Iran's Arabic newspaper, Al Wifaq, both carried claims that al-Sahaf hung himself a few hours before Baghdad fell to US forces on April 9. However, the refugees did not provide any source to confirm the claim. But White House press secretary Ari Fleischer yesterday said the US government believed former Iraqi leaders, including deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz and al-Sahaf, may be hiding in Syria. The fate of the man dubbed "Comical Ali" might not be known, but he is sure to live on in legendary status for his own creative interpretation of the truth, denying what was quite obvious to everyone around him. An Iranian news agency allegedly close to top conservative military figures attributed the fall of Baghdad to a secret tripartite agreement between Saddam Hussain, Russia and the US. According to the Baztab agency, al-Sahaf was instructed to stay in Baghdad until the very last moments to lend the impression that everything in Saddam's camp was under control. The agency also claimed that Russia gained $5 billion to orchestrate this agreement. Al-Sahaf became somewhat of a cult figure in the early stages of the conflict when he declared that the "infidels" were facing "slaughter", despite the images of US tanks rolling into Baghdad and the sound of artillery fire reverberating around the city.
