Naji Sabri

Naji Sabri Ahmad Al-Hadithi
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 2001–2003
President	Saddam Hussein
Preceded by	Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf
Succeeded by	Hoshyar Zebari
Personal details
Born	1951 (age 65–66) Iraq
Nationality	Iraqi

Naji Sabri Ahmad Al-Hadithi (Arabic: ناجي صبري أحمد الحديثي‎‎) served as the Iraqi Foreign Minister under Saddam Hussein in the lead-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Sabri was a professor of English literature at Baghdad University, before serving in the press office of Iraq's embassy in London. He was recalled from the embassy in 1980 after two of his brothers were arrested for plotting against Saddam Hussein's regime. Thereafter, Sabri served as editor of an English language newspaper and translated English books into Arabic.

During the 1991 Gulf War, Sabri served as the Deputy Information Minister for Iraq. His interactions with CNN producer Robert Wiener were dramatized in the HBO film Live From Baghdad, where his character was listed as Naji Al-Hadithi. CNN became famous after delivering live audio and video footage from within a Baghdad hotel even as the American military was bombing the city.

In 1998, Sabri was appointed Iraq's ambassador to Austria. In 2001, he was named Foreign Minister of Iraq. His education, almost flawless English, and comfort in diplomatic circles continued to make him one of Iraq's most recognized faces in the West. He is a Sunni Muslim.

In the lead-up to the 2003 invasion, Sabri led Iraq's diplomatic efforts to weaken support for a US-led attack on Iraq. He worked to lobby support from Russia, China, India, and even Iraq's former enemy Iran. Sabri was also heavily engaged in talks with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix. In September 2002, Sabri officially announced to Annan that Saddam Hussein had agreed to a resumption of weapons inspections in Iraq.

In March 2003, while the invasion of Iraq was in its heated initial phase, a fatigued Sabri - last seen in Baghdad - publicly arrived in Damascus, Syria to the surprise of many. Sabri had managed to secure safe passage out of the country along a hazardous route. Sabri continued onto Cairo, Egypt, where his security was guaranteed by the Egyptian government. The United States also offered the Egyptian authorities a guarantee of Sabri's security while in Egypt.

...
Wikipedia