Authenticity of Saddam broadcast questioned

IRAQI state-run television yesterday aired a tape purporting to show Saddam Hussein addressing his people after the first US airstrikes, mocking US President George W Bush and calling the attacks a “shameful crime”.

It looked like Saddam albeit puffy-faced, fatigued and greyer than he appeared in other recent appearances. But US authorities said the tape, broadcast a couple of hours after the airstrikes, does not conclusively prove Saddam is alive.

The attacks were aimed at a compound which US intelligence believed was housing senior Iraqi leadership including, perhaps, Saddam. US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld yesterday said authorities had not yet determined whether the bombing had accomplished its goal of taking out Iraq's top leaders.