US studies 'Saddam' TV pictures

US studies 'Saddam' TV pictures

US forces are still searching for Saddam Hussein

US intelligence officials are studying television pictures of what is said to be an appearance by Saddam Hussein in Baghdad on 9 April - the day American forces moved into the city.

The pictures were shown on Abu Dhabi TV, who said they had been given the tape by an unidentified person.

US officials say it is too soon to tell if the broadcast was authentic and when it was recorded.

In the pictures, the man said to be Saddam Hussein - clad in a black beret and olive military uniform - moves through a crowd as people cheer.

We are confident about victory

Saddam Hussein - from speech aired on Abu Dhabi TV

Excerpts of speech

He is seen being lifted on top of a car to greet people.

Alongside him stands a man who resembles his younger son, Qusay.

The videotape was shot from a distance and alternated between zooming in on the man and panning the crowd that was rushing him.

He has a large gold chain around his neck and appears both pleased and haggard.

His face appears narrower than it was in televised speeches given days before.

Crowds celebrate Saddam's downfall, but was he still in the city?

Though there was nothing to indicate when the pictures were shot, haze was visible in the background that could have been dust but also could have been smoke from bombardments.

The television station said the pictures, taken in the Azamiyah neighbourhood of the capital, "showed that there were parts of Baghdad that hadn't fallen at that day" and that still had an Iraqi security presence.

Search goes on

If the footage is authentic it would mean that US bombing of three houses on 7 April aimed at killing the Iraqi president was unsuccessful.

It was two days later, the day the video was said to have been shot, that a crowd of Iraqis toppled a statue of Saddam Hussein in the main square.

The US is still searching for Saddam Hussein inside Iraq, especially in Baghdad and the northern city of Tikrit, his birthplace.

During the first days of the war in March, Saddam Hussein appeared several times on Iraqi state television, promised to fight on and defeat the American invasion.

On 7 April, a man identified as Saddam Hussein was shown on Iraqi TV in the streets of Baghdad being greeted by people.

However, that footage showed a Saddam Hussein who appeared leaner and younger than the man who had been giving speeches in previous weeks.