'Saddam tape' calls for US withdrawal

US forces are searching for Saddam Hussein

An Arabic television station has broadcast what it says is a new audiotape from the former Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein.

The voice on the tape, broadcast by Dubai-based al-Arabiya, urges the Iraqi people to wage jihad (Muslim holy war) against US forces in Iraq, either by fighting them or by giving money to the resistance.

It calls for an unconditional American withdrawal from the country, warning that otherwise the occupying force will suffer "catastrophic" losses.

The speaker also demands that the United Nations Security Council should withhold approval of US actions in Iraq.

BBC Middle East analyst Roger Hardy says the voice on the 14-minute tape is hoarse but the message is a familiar one - apart from the call on the UN, which is a new element.

Your withdrawal from our country is inevitable, whether it happens today or tomorrow, and tomorrow will come soon Speaker on tape Saddam tape excerpts Blix voices WMD doubts

Given current US efforts to get a new Security Council resolution, our correspondent says, this may be an attempt to show that the tape is recent.

In another development, former UN arms inspector Hans Blix says he believes the Iraqis destroyed most of their weapons of mass destruction 10 years ago but pretended they still had them to try to deter a military attack.

"I'm certainly more and more to the conclusion that Iraq has, as they maintained, destroyed almost all of what they had in the summer of 1991," Mr Blix told Australian national radio.

It was unlikely the US and British teams now searching for weapons in Iraq would find more than "some documents of interest", Mr Blix said.

The US and UK cited Iraq's alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction as one of their main reasons for going to war in the spring.

'Tighten the noose'

Addressing the US, the speaker on the tape says: "We call on you to withdraw your forces as soon as possible, and without any conditions, as you cannot bear any more losses as these losses will be catastrophic for you.

"Your withdrawal from our country is inevitable, whether it happens today or tomorrow, and tomorrow will come soon."

To Iraqis, he says: "O fighters, men and women, 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."

And to the UN, he says: "Know that Iraq and its leaders will refuse any solution that is made while the country is under the shadow of occupation. We will consider it to be a ruse."

The speaker on the tape signs off by saying "mid-September".

Tape analysed

Several tapes allegedly from Saddam Hussein have surfaced in recent weeks.

Al-Arabiya says it received the latest tape on Wednesday at its office in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

At the beginning of this month, intelligence officials in the United States said an earlier taped message was probably the voice of Saddam Hussein.

Central Intelligence Agency officials in Washington said the poor quality of the recording prevented technical analysts from being absolutely certain of its authenticity.