Saddam set for TV speech

The president (right) greets his acting guests

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is due to deliver an address to the nation on Saturday morning (0800 GMT) to mark the 80th anniversary of the formation of the country's armed forces.

The speech - which will be broadcast on television, radio and the internet - comes just days after Iraqi officials strongly denied reports that the president had suffered a severe stroke.

The latest rumours about Mr Hussein's health surfaced last Sunday after he presided over the biggest military parade in Iraq since the Gulf War, which ended in 1991.

According to Iraqi opposition sources, the president suffered a severe stroke during or shortly after the parade.

Earlier on Thursday he was shown chairing a cabinet meeting

BBC Middle East correspondent Frank Gardner says the intention behind the speech is to show the world that the Iraqi leader is strong and healthy.

Mr Hussein has made two other appearances on Iraqi television in the last two days. In one, he was shown presiding over a cabinet meeting.

In the other, he was seen chatting to a group of entertainers, including Egyptian actor Muhammad Subhi and the Syrian star Raghda.

The group has been in Baghdad since 22 December to perform a play and distribute toys and presents to Iraqi children.

"Saddam loves his nation, but he loves Egypt especially because he has lived in Egypt," the television commentary said.

The president was shown both standing and seated, greeting the actors and discussing the concept of pan-Arabism and the Palestinian situation. BBC monitors said he appeared to be in good health.

The broadcast did not indicate when the pictures were recorded.

Stroke dismissed

On Wednesday, an Iraqi Government spokesman dismissed as ridiculous a report from an Iraqi opposition group in Syria that the president, who is 63, had suffered a stroke on Sunday.

Saddam Hussein

1937: Born Takrit, central Iraq

1963-68: Jailed for involvement with opposition Ba'ath party

1979: Becomes head of state

1980: Invades Iran; eight year war ends inconclusively

1990: Invades Kuwait; driven out in Gulf War of 1991

2000: Unconfirmed reports of poor health

"These press reports are stupid and do not even merit a response," a spokesman for Iraq's Information Ministry told reporters in Baghdad.

Iraqi dissidents living in exile said the television appearances could have been doctored using old video footage of the president.

But the Iraqi National Congress, an umbrella organisation for dissident groups, said on Thursday it could not confirm the report of Mr Hussein's ill health.

The US-backed organisation issued a statement, saying rumours about the Iraqi leader's health highlighted "the critical need to have in place a transition strategy so that the power vacuum left by Saddam is not filled by another military dictator."

'Taken ill' after parade

Anonymous Iraqi sources have been quoted by the Saudi-owned Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper as saying that Mr Hussein was under intensive care in a Baghdad hospital.

The New Year parade went on for 13 hours

The report said he became ill during a banquet after the New Year military parade.

During the march-past, the president repeatedly stood up and fired into the air with a rifle which he held in one hand.

The Iraqi Information Ministry cited the president's appearance at that parade as proof of his health - although the stroke is alleged to have occurred later.

In September 2000, Asharq Al-Awsat reported that the Iraqi leader was stricken with lymph cancer and was preparing to undergo chemotherapy.