Fri April 4, 2003 12:30 PM ET
Iraqi television showed footage of what it said was President Saddam Hussein visiting residential areas of Baghdad on Friday. Saddam, dressed in a military uniform, was mobbed by cheering, chanting Iraqis. Some of them kissed him on his cheeks and hands and he held up a small child. The television said he visited buildings bombed by U.S. warplanes.
FOLLOWUP: From Associated Press...
In an unannounced television broadcast Friday designed to rally his people, President Saddam Hussein called on Iraqis to strike at the U.S.-led coalition. Iraq TV also showed a man identified as Saddam being cheered by a crowd. The speech made one topical reference — to the capture of an Apache helicopter March 23, which Iraqi officials have said was brought down by farmers in central Iraq. "Perhaps you remember the valiant Iraqi peasant and how he shot down an American Apache with an old weapon," Saddam said in the brief speech.
| If it's actually his voice, and not that of one of his doubles, that's the proof he's still alive. We're going to have to go root him out... |
Also Friday, Arab television networks aired footage of a man they said was Saddam walking among excited crowds cheering. The man identified as Saddam was dressed in a green-olive military uniform with a beret. He smiled, appeared relaxed and shook hands, kissed a baby and waved. Al-Jazeera said the tape was made Friday. It was taken in daylight, but not broadcast until after nightfall. |