Saddam wins a perfect mandate

BAGHDAD - Iraqi President Saddam Hussein won a perfect 100 per cent of votes in a referendum for a new term in office, official results showed yesterday.

"Our leader President Saddam Hussein, may God preserve him and look after him, has won 100 per cent of the votes of eligible voters," said Saddam's top deputy, Izzat Ibrahim, reading official results at a news conference in Baghdad.

Ibrahim, vice-chairman of Iraq's Revolutionary Command Council, said all 11,445,638 Iraqis eligible to vote had done so and every single one of them answered "Yes" for another seven-year term for Saddam, who has ruled Iraq for 23 years.

As soon as Ibrahim finished reading the results, live on Iraqi television, soldiers and ruling Ba'ath Party members across Baghdad fired automatic rifles into the air in celebration.

The authorities had urged voters to turn out in force to show support for Saddam in the face of US threats of military action and President George W. Bush's declared desire to remove him from power.



Amid vows to defend Saddam to the death, some voters marked their ballot cards with their own blood.

The United States has dismissed the vote and said it lacked any credibility. Saddam was the only candidate, the voting process was tightly controlled by the Government and there were no independent observers.

But in Baghdad, displays of fireworks lit the night sky by the Tigris River as small numbers of residents slaughtered sheep, a traditional Arab act of celebration.

Saddam won 99.96 per cent in a first referendum in 1995. Appointed President in 1979, he has led Iraq through two major wars and survived several challenges to his rule. But with the US determined to disarm Iraq, his toughest test might come in the next few months.

Bush, who says Saddam is producing weapons of mass destruction, has pushed ahead with US policy for a "regime change" in Baghdad.

He is seeking a tough UN resolution on weapons inspections after obtaining congressional authorisation for the use of force against Saddam.

- REUTERS

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