Former information minister back on Arab TV screens

Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's wartime information supremo Mohammed Said al-Sahaf re-emerged on Arab TV Thursday to say he knew nothing about the whereabouts of his former boss and that he had turned himself in to US forces in Iraq but was released after questioning.

For the first time since he dropped out of sight after US-led forces captured Baghdad and ended Saddam's 24-year rule on April 9, the ex-information minister appeared on two Arab satellite channels and said that while the information he gave out at the time of the conflict was correct, its "interpretation" by Iraqi officials was not.

Sahaf's reappearance followed a report that he had been captured by US forces occupying Baghdad.

"I went to the Americans ... through some friends, and was questioned about a number of issues related to my [past] work," Sahaf said.

"After the interrogation, I was released," said Sahaf, who was shown in a living room in what the TV said was "a suburb of Baghdad."

The report of his capture in Wednesday's edition of London's Daily Mirror had not been confirmed by the Pentagon or other US sources.

Sahaf, who gained world fame for upbeat assessments of the military situation on the eve of the collapse of the regime that were in stark contrast with developments on the ground, came across as a subdued version of his old self, looking thinner and with his hair turned white.

"I know nothing," Sahaf said when asked whether he knew anything about "the former leadership" -- a reference to Saddam, whose whereabouts since his ouster have been unknown.

While that he had given out correct information of which he was convinced at the time of the hostilities, Sahaf made a thinly veiled criticism of Iraqi officials in charge of the conduct of the war, describing their reading of developments on the ground as inaccurate.