In the last decade of Saddam Hussein’s rule in Iraq, a man called Naji Sabri al-Hadithi played an important part in the working lives of journalists who were visiting Baghdad. He was mostly friendly and fairly helpful. As Naji rose through the regime, he opened a few doors for us. I used to play tennis with him at the Rasheed Hotel. Naji had a mean slice and always claimed the ball was in when it was not. Since I wanted my next visa, I always accepted his line calls.
Naji liked nice clothes. The only time I saw him without an Italian suit (outside the tennis court) was during the 1990-91 Gulf War. As Baghdad was being heavily bombed, Naji swapped his two-piece for a dark green Baath Party uniform and black beret. Around the turn of the century, my former tennis partner grew a large Saddam-style moustache and became the regime’s last foreign minister. According to Richard Kerbaj’s excellent “secret history” of the “Five Eyes” intelligence alliance, he was also passing information to the CIA.
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