Man Claiming To Be Hussein Urges Attacks

September 18, 2003|By Ian Fisher The New York Times

BAGHDAD, Iraq — As an Arab channel broadcast an audiotape of a man claiming to be Saddam Hussein and urging more attacks on Americans in Iraq, the United States on Wednesday played down the possibility that eight prisoners held in Iraq on suspicion of taking part in such attacks might be American or British.

"The suspicion is that they made these claims in order to avoid detention in the first place," Lt. Col. George Krivo, a military spokesman, told reporters in Baghdad on Wednesday. "As they were questioned, there was no evidence to back up those claims."

On Tuesday, an American brigadier general in charge of about 10,000 prisoners in Iraq told reporters that six arrested men had claimed to be American and two others had said they were British. The general gave little credence to the claims, and military officials in Washington quickly said there was no obviously American prisoner like John Walker Lindh, who fought with the Taliban against American troops in Afghanistan.

Even as he cast further doubt on the men's claims on Wednesday, Krivo declined to release any details on the prisoners. But he said he did not think any of the men had produced an American or British passport.

While there were about a dozen attacks on U.S. troops on Wednesday, a second day passed without any Americans reported dying in combat. Krivo said one American soldier serving in the north of the country had died in an "accidental discharge" of a weapon. He provided no details.

Amid the relative calm, an Arab television news station, al-Arabiya, broadcast a 14-minute tape in which a weary-sounding man identifying himself as Hussein urged more attacks on American soldiers and said Iraqis should "wage holy war by all means against the foolish invaders."

"We call on you to withdraw your forces as soon as possible," the voice said, addressing the Americans, "and without any conditions, as you cannot bear any more losses, as these losses will be catastrophic for you."

"Your withdrawal from our country is inevitable, whether it happens today or tomorrow," added the voice, which signed off giving the date as "mid-September" and saying, "And tomorrow will come soon."

Officials from the Dubai-based station said the tape was delivered to its offices on Wednesday in Baghdad. It is the eighth such tape since the government fell in April; American intelligence officials have said they believed that the voice in the earlier ones has been that of Hussein, who is thought to be in hiding.

The voice also offered "pleasant news" about the attacks on Americans so far. "The losses have begun to eat away at the enemy like wildfire," it said. "You must increase your grip and armed struggle."

Krivo dismissed the possibility that Iraqis might obey such directions, saying, "The time of that regime has passed."

"The security situation improves every day," he said. There are, he added, "big areas of the country where it is relatively peaceful and stable."

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