Mysterious channel praising Saddam drops off Iraqi TV; channel’s chairman says it will return

Mysterious ‘Saddam Channel’ drops off Iraqi TV

BAGHDAD — A mysterious TV channel praising Saddam Hussein has dropped off the airwaves just three days after it first began broadcasting.

The chairman of the so-called Saddam Channel told The Associated Press it will return by the weekend, after a technology upgrade to make the broadcast stronger.

The Web site of a political coalition led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki jeered what it called the end of the satellite TV channel.

Iraqi government officials have said they suspect the channel was run by Baathists whose political party Saddam once led.