What would the Irakqiinformationminister say? Click here: WeLovetheIraqiInformationMinister (text/html, 17 KB)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - People around the world have taken a unique liking to the public relations stylings of former Iraqi information minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf. Too many people, apparently. A Web site that sprang up on Thursday called Welovetheiraqiinformationminister.com was quickly forced offline as a rush of global interest drew as many as 4,000 requests a second for the page.

With his trademark beret and sly smile, Sahaf became a cult figure on television with his daily briefings, appearing from behind a sea of microphones as he condemned the American "infidels" and often flatly denied what viewers around the world saw unfolding on their TV screens. Kieran Mulvaney, a writer based in Alaska who set up the Web site, told Reuters on Friday that he has been inundated with requests for interviews from the likes of CNN and the BBC.