IRAQ: The post-war director of Iraqi television has quit, saying the US is losing the propaganda war to countries like Iran and to the fugitive Saddam Hussein.
Three months after being flown to Baghdad by the US to relaunch Iraqi television and radio, Mr Ahmad Rikabi, a former exile, is disillusioned and back in London for the foreseeable future.
"Saddam Hussein is doing better at marketing himself, through Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya Gulf channels," Mr Rikabi said, referring to the audio tapes believed to be from the former Iraqi leader which have been supplied to those stations and broadcast across the region.
He said that, as the US had failed to invest in Iraqi stations or to retain local staff, channels such as Iran's Al Alam and Qatar's Al Jazeera were gaining popularity in Iraq.
"The people of Iraq, including the Sunni Muslims, are not about to turn against their liberators, but they are being incited to do so. These channels contribute to tension within Iraq. You need television at their level," he said.
One of the first acts of the new director was to broadcast the Shia call to prayer, along with the Sunni one, a symbol of equality after decades of discrimination against the Shia majority by the former ruling Baath Party.