Saddam defiant in statement, US seeks surrender

9.45am

UPDATE - President Saddam Hussein said in a statement today Iraqis should wage a holy war against invaders, while the United States said only an Iraqi "unconditional surrender" would end the war.

In a statement attributed to him and read out on state television, Saddam urged Iraqis to fight American and British troops wherever they were.

"Hit them, fight them ... Fight them everywhere," his statement said.

Saddam, 65, did not appear personally. Rumours have swirled since the war began 13 days ago that he may have been hurt in a US air attack. He has been seen several times on television but it was unknown when those appearances were recorded.

In recent days, US warplanes have subjected Baghdad to a tremendous battering as land forces fought to within 50 miles of the capital.

Saddam's message this time, unaccompanied by images of the leader, was read out by Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the fact that Saddam "did not show up" in person was "interesting."

Rumsfeld's use of the term "unconditional surrender" was the bluntest statement yet of US war aims, which are officially to oust Saddam, his family and supporters, install a more representative Iraqi government and destroy the weapons of mass destruction the United States insists Saddam is hiding.

So far, no such weapons have been found.

"There will be no outcome to this war that leaves Saddam Hussein and his regime in power," Rumsfeld told a Pentagon briefing. "Let there be no doubt, his time will end, and soon. The only thing that the coalition will discuss with this regime is their unconditional surrender."

Saddam's call for jihad followed more fighting in the south, air raids on the Iraqi capital, more civilian deaths in an air raid, and checkpoint killings that have further fired Arab anger.

Wall Street shares rallied after Saddam did not deliver the message in person. "You see the market rallying right now and the only reason why is that Saddam didn't come out on TV," said Taai Izushima, head trader for Daiwa Securities.

US commander Richard Myers expressed regret for the deaths of seven women and children killed by US troops at a checkpoint on Monday. However, he said, "the climate established by the Iraqi regime contributed to this incident."

US troops have been nervous of possible suicide bombers since a suicide attack killed four soldiers on Saturday.

The civilian deaths were bound further to damage US efforts to win Iraqi hearts and minds --an undertaking ridiculed by Baghdad and which US officers admit is proving harder than expected.

Reuters reporters with invading US and British troops said a pause of several days in their advance toward Iraq's capital -- hit again on Tuesday by bombs and missiles -- appeared to be over and the armour was on the move again.

"It seems as though the operational pause in our sector is over. We've swung from passivity to activity quite quickly," Reuters correspondent Sean Maguire said from central Iraq.

The outskirts of Baghdad were again heavily bombed on Tuesday, particularly in the south. Huge plumes of white smoke rose on the horizon. Iraq said the latest attacks there had killed 24 civilians -- 19 overnight and five on Tuesday.

Reuters correspondents in the city said the almost constant bombing had made many residents determined to carry on with their lives and defy invading forces.

"We're fed up, we're terrified of this war but we're willing to put up with all this rather than see the Americans in our country ruling us," said Mona Fathi, 34, an academic.

Minister Sahaf said US-led air raids over the past day had killed a total of 56 civilians throughout the country. Iraq has put the total civilian deaths to date at 653 but there was no way to independently verify this figure. Baghdad has issued no numbers of its military casualties.

Reuters reporters taken by Iraqi officials to a hospital in the town of Hilla saw 11 bodies, apparently civilians. Residents said they were killed when US bombs hit the residential area. Sahaf said nine of the dead were children.

"What has he done wrong, what has he done wrong?" demanded the driver of the truck carrying the bodies, as he held the corpse of an infant.

At a televised news conference on Tuesday, Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan said 6,000 volunteer fighters had arrived in Iraq. More than half were suicide fighters.

He said: "They are a time bomb, you'll hear about them soon ... We want each and every one of these martyrs to do their duty and kill as many of these invading bastards as possible."

Many US checkpoints are aimed at protecting long supply lines, often attacked by Iraqi forces and stretching some 220 miles back into Kuwait.

US Marines on Tuesday shot dead an unarmed driver and badly wounded his passenger at a roadblock south of Baghdad.

The United States has downplayed the diplomatic fall-out from the Iraq war so far, but Secretary of State Colin Powell left Washington on Tuesday morning for a hastily arranged trip to Europe and Turkey.

He visits Turkey to try to patch up ties damaged by Washington's failed effort to persuade Ankara to let US troops cross its territory to invade Iraq.

In Brussels on Thursday he will meet Washington's European allies, many of who strongly oppose the war, in the hopes of mending fences and preparing for Iraq's eventual reconstruction.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq war