Editing Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf (section)

== Early life and career ==
Al-Sahhaf was born in [[Hilla]], near [[Karbala]], to a [[Shi'ite]] [[Arab]] family. After studying journalism<ref name="BBC20080627">{{cite news| url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2927031.stm|title=Profile: Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf| publisher= [[BBC News]]|date=27 June 2003|access-date=19 March 2008}}</ref> at [[Baghdad University]], he graduated with a master's degree in [[English literature]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/04/13/wirq213.xml |url-status=dead |last=Alderson |first=Andrew |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030826170959/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/04/13/wirq213.xml |archive-date=26 August 2003 |title='True lies' make web star out of Saddam's mouthpiece |work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]] |date=13 April 2003 |access-date= 19 March 2008 |location=London }}</ref> He planned to become an English teacher<ref name="BBC20080627" /> before joining the [[Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region|Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party]] in 1963. In the early days of Ba'athist governance, he read out regular announcements of recently executed Iraqis on state television.<ref>{{cite book |first= Robert| last= Fisk |title=The Great War For Civilisation |year=2006 |page=187|publisher=Harper Perennial |location=London |isbn=978-1-84115-008-6}}</ref>

He served as an ambassador to Sweden, Burma, the United Nations and Italy, before returning to Iraq to serve as Foreign Minister in 1992.<ref name="BBC20080627" /> The reasons for his removal as Foreign Minister in April 2001 are unclear, but his achievements in the position were often claimed to be less satisfactory than that of his predecessor, [[Tariq Aziz]]. At least one report suggests that [[Uday Hussein]], Saddam Hussein's son, was responsible for the removal.<ref name="BBC20080627" />