LOS ANGELES, April 12: People around the world have taken a liking to the public relations stylings of former Iraqi information minister Mohammed Saeed al Sahhaf. 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, said that he has been inundated with requests for interviews.

In keeping with the tongue-in-cheek theme of the site, the aprons will bear one of the now-disappeared Sahaf’s most popular catch phrases: “God will roast their stomachs in hell.”—Reuters