Tim Blair

THE LAUGHING ASSASSIN

Ha! Ayad Allawi is making fun of Sydney Morning Herald rumour-monger Paul McGeough. The New York Times reports:

Ayad Allawi will have his right wrist in a cast when he arrives in the United States this week for his first visit as Iraq's interim prime minister, and it will provide the 59-year-old neurosurgeon with a powerful talking point. Asked about the wrist in an interview here as he prepared to leave for London, New York and Washington, Dr. Allawi joshed: "I've been shooting people, didn't you know?"

This should please McGeough, who was earlier miffed that his Ayad the Slayer story didn’t get any attention. Not even from CBS! More from the NYT’s Allawi piece:

Shortly after he took office in June, stories circulated of Dr. Allawi visiting a detention center in the Baghdad suburb and shooting several detained insurgents dead. The story quickly faded, with American officials saying they had no information to confirm it, and Dr. Allawi dismissing it as a "ridiculous" fiction. But a curious thing happened: many Iraqis who heard the story told friends they would not be unhappy if it were true, because it would show that Iraq finally had a strongman at its helm again, one who might restore order.

Hmm. Sounds like the Iraqis are down with this whole "fake but true" concept.