Purported Saddam tape warns of more US deaths

9.30am

DUBAI - An Arabic television station aired a purported audio tape by ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein on Sunday calling on Iraqis to wage holy war against occupying forces and warning of more deaths for United States-led troops.

"Fighting them...is a legitimate, patriotic and humanitarian duty and the occupiers have no choice but to leave our country Iraq, the country of Arabs and Islam, as cursed losers," the speaker, who sounded like Saddam, said.

"The path of jihad (holy war) and resistance is the best path under God, human kind and history and is the only path which will guarantee the expulsion of the tyrannical foreign forces from our country and grant total freedom and sovereignty to our people in their land," he said in a statement marking the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.

The speaker on the tape, dated only November and broadcast by Dubai-based Al Arabiya channel, said US-led forces would only find disappointment and loss of life in Iraq.

"Let them try other months and other times to harvest other lives, destroy and rob but they will only find disappointment and more American, British and other deaths," he said.

The last time a purported Saddam audio tape was aired was September 17, also by Al Arabiya. Then the voice also demanded the United States unconditionally withdraw its forces from Iraq or face "catastrophic" losses -- echoing the language used in Sunday's broadcast.

The United States launched its war on Iraq on March 20 and since US President George W Bush declared combat officially over on May 1, US and other international forces occupying the country have come under daily attack.

Washington blames the attacks on forces loyal to Saddam.

The speaker on Sunday's tape said it had been proven that Washington lied about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

"They said then and imagined, and made others imagine, that they were going on a picnic to occupy Iraq and destroy what they called weapons of mass destruction, which was the initial justification for their great crime after the crime of planting Zionists in the Arab world," he said.

"What are they saying now and what is the truth? They are saying, as are others around the world, the same thing that we told them ahead of the aggression: that Iraq has no weapons and Iraq will resist their evil intentions to occupy it and maintain their forces and influence in it," he added.

The US-led forces have captured or killed dozens of top Saddam aides, but the deposed president remains at large despite a US$25 million ($40.22 million) bounty on his head.

In the September tape, the speaker called on Iraqis to "wage holy war by all means against the foolish invaders".

"You must tighten the noose around the Americans and increase your attacks against them. You must conduct jihad by all means possible, financial and otherwise," the speaker said.

In Washington, a spokesman for the CIA said it was aware of the tape and would examine it to determine its authenticity. This usually takes a day or more.

An unnamed CIA official said in September a previous such tape was "probably the voice of Saddam Hussein".

The White House had no immediate comment.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq