Saddam tells Iraqi to resist the invaders, say minister

Saddam tells Iraqi to resist the invaders, say minister

Agencies, Baghdad

Saddam Hussein called on Baghdad residents Friday to "resist the invading forces" of the encroaching U.S.-British troops, Information Minister Mohammad Said al-Sahhaf said on state television on Friday.

"When the capital resists, the invaders can no longer advance and have to retreat," Sahhaf quoted the president as saying in a speech which claimed God was on the side of the Iraqis.

The speech, the latest in a series of calls for Iraqis to fight in recent days, also said they were determined to defeat the forces which have massed "at the doorstep of our capital," the speech said.

"Fight day and night, hit them without respite," said Saddam, whose recent non-appearance on state television has sparked speculation as to his whereabouts.

Saddam, who called Tuesday for jihad, or holy war, against the invaders, said "victory was assured in advance," according to Sahhaf.

"We believe in God and we count on him for a victory which he has promised to believers, and that is our right."

Meanwhile, Iraq warned of "martyrdom" and other unconventional attacks on later Friday against U.S. troops who it said were "isolated" at Saddam International Airport on the outskirts of the capital.

"I mean some kind of martyrdom, and there are very new ways which we are going to carry out," said Sahhaf.

Sahhaf recalled the battle of Dien Bien Phu, a 1954 battle which changed the course of France's war in Vietnam and led to the surrender and defeat of the French.

"Tonight we will carry out something that is not conventional against them, not military. It will be a great example to them," he told a press conference.

But the minister, whose country has insisted it does not have weapons of mass destruction, ruled out the use of unconventional weapons in reply to a journalist's question.

"Unless they surrender quickly, I don't think there's any chance that they will survive," he said, referring to the U.S. forces. "We consider it an isolated island ... They are completely surrounded."

"In a joint effort between Iraqi people, Saddam's Fedayeen (militia) and tribesmen ... we have the determination to keep them in a small island, another Dien Bien Phu," he said.

The U.S. military, meanwhile, said its troops seized control of the strategic prize of Baghdad's international airport on Friday and were flushing out remaining pockets of resistance.

Baghdad has dismissed U.S. suggestions that Saddam is no longer in effective control of the country he has ruled since 1979, or that he may have been killed in the thousands of coalition air strikes since the war began on March 20.

Iraqi satellite television showed footage on Thursday evening of President Saddam Hussein chairing a meeting of senior ministers.

The television announcer said Saddam was discussing the state of Iraqi troops' battle readiness as U.S.-led forces closed in on Baghdad.

The television did not say when the meeting took place, but said those present included Iraq's vice president and ministers of defense and irrigation.

Saddam, in military uniform, appeared businesslike and calm. He and his ministers seemed to be meeting in a barely furnished room above ground, with light showing through the drawn orange curtains.

Iraqi domestic television showed footage of the Iraqi leader on Wednesday smiling and laughing with members of his cabinet.

Earlier on Thursday, Iraqi television said Saddam had written a letter to his niece vowing that Iraqi forces would stop the invaders advancing on Baghdad and would drive them out of Iraq.

Also on Thursday, Sahhaf read out a statement from Saddam praising the defenders of Kut southeast of Baghdad where fighting raged through the day.

But the message said nothing of a second front around the holy Shi'ite town of Kerbala where U.S. forces advanced swiftly.

Saddam's defiant remarks came as coalition troops said they had entered Baghdad's outer rim and almost captured Saddam International Airport, some 20 miles (12 kilometers) from the center of the capital.

"The Republican Guard, as well as the troops of our brave and heroic army, are Baghdad's virtual fortifications," Saddam was quoted as saying in his pep speech.

"You know your army's and your Republican Guard's strength when given the opportunity to kill the enemy," he added.

A spokesman at the U.S. Central Command in Qatar said on Friday that 2,500 Iraqi troops are reported to have surrendered to U.S. Marines who clashed with Republican Guard units as they advanced north on Baghdad from the town of Al-Kut.