Upon returning to Iraq he caught the attention of Saddam Hussein, who offered him a job as his minister of protocol, a cabinet position that amounts to essentially a personal secretary.
Dr. Wihaib had near daily contact with Saddam for the duration of his time in the position; toward the end he fell out of favor and was the target of several assassination attempts.
Beginning in 2002 his name surfaced in news reports attached to descriptions of atrocities committed by Saddam and supporting the US led invasion of Iraq.
His prior absence from Western media outlets led some (particularly in the online blogging community) to suspect that he was a fabrication of the American and British governments to provide disinformation to news sources.
He also helped create a documentary about his experiences called Dancing with the Devil which was at the time of this article not yet released.