The former GreenBeret has also been credited with playing a key role in the capture of Saddam Hussein, and he led the group that killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq.
If reporters believed that they had witnessed an American drive deep into the heart of the capital, Mr. Sahhaf, in thegreen uniform and black beret of the ruling Baath Party, wished to disabuse them.