Saddam tape evidence inconclusive

The US says it will not give in to the Iraqi resistance

The CIA has said it cannot verify that a tape allegedly from ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein is genuine.

The quality of the tape - broadcast on Sunday by Arabic TV station al-Arabiya - is too poor for a conclusive verdict, the Central Intelligence Agency said.

The CIA statement came on the day US troops killed six suspected Saddam Hussein loyalists as the US steps up the pressure on insurgents in Iraq.

Elsewhere, two US soldiers were killed and two wounded in separate attacks.

A US military spokesman said the two US soldiers died in attacks near the town of Balad, about 70 kilometres (45 miles) north of Baghdad.

One soldier died after coming under attack from small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades, the spokesman said. The other was killed by an improvised explosive device south of Balad, he added.

'Loyalists'

US soldiers killed what the military described as six "former regime loyalists" and captured 21 others in three separate incidents in north-central Iraq.

The occupiers have no choice but to leave our country Iraq, the country of Arabs and Islam, as cursed losers 'Saddam tape' 'Saddam tape' in full

In Saddam Hussein's home town of Tikrit, troops held a military parade in a show of fire power.

The latest violence followed overnight shelling in the Tikrit area by US troops.

American soldiers backed by armoured vehicles and helicopters also raided a Baghdad neighbourhood in the early hours of Monday.

US commanders are adopting what they call a "more aggressive" approach in response to mounting losses.

In Tikrit, US tanks and armoured vehicles drove through the streets on Monday, in a message to Iraqi insurgents.

"They need to understand it is more than Humvees that will be used against the resistance. We will absolutely crush the resistance," said Lieutenant Colonel Steve Russell.

President George W Bush said that US forces were changing their tactics to match those of their enemies.

The US is changing tactics

Early on Monday, witnesses near Tikrit reported the ground shaking as flares lit up the night sky.

US troops shelled positions from where they believe insurgents had fired mortars or rockets on their base in Tikrit.

The bombardment was part of Operation Ivy Cyclone II which is targeting insurgents in north-central Iraq.

It comes after 17 coalition troops died when two Black Hawk helicopters collided and crashed in the northern city of Mosul on Saturday. One of the helicopters was reportedly hit by ground fire.

US forces fired a satellite-guided missile at a "guerrilla camp" about 25km (15 miles) west of Kirkuk on Sunday, for the first time since major combat ended.

Baghdad raids

HAVE YOUR SAY Whether the new tactics work or not it is clear that the old strategy was not working James Crosby, UK Send us your comments

Pressure is also being stepped up in the Iraqi capital where US forces moved into the upper-class Sunni Muslim neighbourhood of Azamiyah, searching 450 houses over seven hours in the hunt for weapons and fighters.

The raids angered many residents.

"Of course everybody has weapons. We have all been robbed. We were afraid of the Iraqis and now we're afraid of the Americans," said Samir al-Hadith, an engineer from Saudi Arabia living in the neighbourhood.

US forces are clearly on the offensive in Iraq in the face of mounting casualties among coalition troops and the loss of five helicopters in just over three weeks, the BBC's Peter Biles in Baghdad says.