Saddam said to urge Iraqis to fight occupiers

An audio tape purportedly from Saddam Hussein and aired yesterday urged Iraqis to fight the US-British occupation of Iraq as an increasingly bloody guerilla campaign caused more American casualties.

Qatar's al Jazeera and Lebanon's LBC-al-Hayat television stations broadcast the undated and poor quality recording which told Iraqis covert guerilla attacks were the best way to end the occupation.

The tape was the second in a week purportedly made by the ousted Iraqi leader and US administrator Paul Bremer conceded that the messages, coupled with uncertainty over Saddam's fate, could embolden people attacking US forces in Iraq.

But he said there was no way Saddam would make a comeback. "I would very much prefer for him to be under our control or be dead. Having that issue unresolved gives these die-hard remnants the opportunity to say to other people 'Saddam is still alive, he's going to come back' and so forth," Bremer told a news conference when asked about the recordings.

"He may be alive but he's not going to come back," he added. Washington has offered a $25-million reward for information leading to Saddam's capture or confirmation of his death.

"Returning to covert attacks is the appropriate means for resistance," the voice on the tape said. "Your main mission, Iraqis, is to evict the invaders from Iraqi territory."

It also called for trade boycotts and civil disorder. It was not clear when the message was recorded.

Last Friday, al Jazeera aired an audio tape it said was from Saddam in which he said he was still living in Iraq.

It said the tape was recorded on June 14, two months after the Iraqi president was toppled. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) said the voice on that tape "was most likely" Saddam's.