'Saddam letter' urges uprising

The letter, top, and bottom, "Saddam's" signature (courtesy Al-Quds)

A London Arabic newspaper has printed what it believes to be a handwritten letter from ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

It urged the Iraqi people to rise up against the "infidel, criminal, killer and cowardly occupier", the United States.

The letter, sent by fax to the Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper, was dated 28 April, the day of Saddam Hussein's 66th birthday.

The paper's editor, Abdul Bari Atwan, said he believed the message was genuine.

" We can't verify it because we don't know where he is, he is on the run. I have seen his signature before and it looks like it. I think it is authentic."

'No Shia-Sunni divide'

The letter tells the Iraqi people that the only issue currently facing them is that of occupation, and they should "not trust those who talk about the Sunnis and the Shias".

There are "no priorities other than the expulsion of the infidel, criminal, murderous and cowardly occupier", it says.

'Saddam Hussein letter' in full

The coalition victory had only been possible because of "treachery", the letter says.

It says the countries around Iraq opposed resistance to the US-led invasion, but warns "those who have stood against Iraq and plotted against it will not enjoy peace at the hands of the United States".

"The day of liberation and victory will come", the letter continues, and "right will triumph this time, like it does every time, and the coming days are going to be more beautiful".

There has been no conclusive evidence so far to determine whether Saddam Hussein is dead or alive.

'Survived attacks'

The Americans twice bombed buildings in Baghdad where they thought the Iraqi leader was hiding - on the first day of the war, and then again on 7 April when they targeted a restaurant in the suburb of Mansour.

But residents of an area in northern Baghdad - around the Adhamiya mosque - said Saddam Hussein appeared there two days after the Mansour raid.

It is the view of senior British officials - and many Middle East analysts - that Saddam Hussein did survive the attack and is probably still inside Iraq.

Saddam Hussein was last possibly heard from on 18 April, when Abu Dhabi television broadcast footage and a speech by a man they claimed was the former Iraqi leader, said to have been recorded on 9 April.