‘Saddam’ mourns killed sons in new audio tape

FALLEN Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein mourned the deaths of his sons in a new tape recording sent to an Arab TV station yesterday.

“Thank God for what he destined for us, and honoured us with their martyrdom for his sake,” the voice said. Uday and Qusay Hussein were killed last week in a fierce gun battle with American troops in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

Their father is believed to still be in Iraq, moving constantly from safe house to safe house.

It was the first acknowledgement of the deaths by Saddam. Experts said the tape, one of a number released by Saddam since his overthrow by coalition forces, sounded genuine.

It said: “Even if Saddam Hussein has 100 children other than Uday and Qusay, Saddam Hussein would offer them the same way.”

‘Saddam’ began with a verse from the Koran and then paid condolences to Iraqis for the deaths of his sons.

But he also said the deaths were “good news, that is the hope of every fighter for God’s sake, as another group of noble souls of the martyrs have ascended to their creator.”

He said those killed in the gunfight would be martyrs in heaven.

“Uday, Qusay, and Mustafa died in Jihad field ... in a brave battle with the enemy”, that lasted for six hours, the voice on the audiotape said. Mustafa was Qusay’s 14-year-old son who also died in the Mosul gun battle.

“The aggression armies surrounding them with all kinds of weapons and ground troops were not able to conquer them until they used their warplanes ,” he said.

Saddam said his sons died “for the sake of God, the nation and the people.” The voice said the tape was made in July 2003. The exact date was not clear. Last week, the US said the voice on another audiotape broadcast by Al-Arabiya on July 23 was likely Saddam’s.

Uday, 39, and Qusay, 37, died after the owner of their luxury mansion hideaway betrayed them for the £20 million reward offered by the US.

American soldiers yesterday overpowered and captured a bodyguard who rarely left Saddam’s side and said they obtained documents and information that could help them close in on the former dictator.

As one of Saddam’s lifelong bodyguards, Adnan Abdullah Abid al-Musslit was believed to have detailed knowledge of the former president’s hiding places, said Lieutenant Colonel Steve Russell, who led the raid.

Commanders said the documents seized in Tikrit, which include photograph albums, identity cards, bound notebooks and Ba’ath Party records, help fill in the picture of Saddam’s flight from the Americans who have reported at least two near-misses in their search in the past week.

“Every guy we get tightens the noose”, said Russell, commander of the 4th Infantry Division’s 22nd Infantry Regiment. “Were we surprised? He’s a bodyguard. That’s why we went in with our steely knives and oily guns,” Russell said.

The pre-dawn raids in the heart of Saddam’s home town of Tikrit nabbed a total of 12 people, including Daher Ziana, the former head of security in the area, and Rafa Idham Ibrahim al-Hassan, a leader of the Saddam Fedayeen militia.