Dead or alive? Saddam takes to streets day the world saw his fall

SADDAM Hussein may have survived the US bomb blast attack on his life and may still be alive - if television footage aired yesterday by Abu Dhabi television can be believed.

The pictures purport to show the Iraqi leader in the streets of Baghdad on April 9, the day his statue was famously toppled by angry crowds after US forces entered the Iraqi capital. He is seen being greeted by a cheering crowd. He also delivers a speech calling on them to resist US forces.

If the man in the footage is Saddam he frequently deployed doubles to take his place on public outings then it proves he was not present in a Baghdad restaurant which the US destroyed with a bomb blast on April 7. US officials claimed Saddam had been killed in that attack.

"Aggressors are always defeated," Saddam said in the taped address to the Iraqi people. "Conquered people are the ones who eventually triumph over invaders."

Despite the footage, an Iraqi envoy loyal to Saddam said yesterday he was confident the Iraqi president was killed by the coalition bombing of Baghdad.

"I know his character," Iraq's ambassador to Belgrade, Sami Sadoun, told The Associated Press in an interview. "The defense of Baghdad would not have collapsed so quickly if he was not dead."

The videotape showed Saddam, clad in a black beret and an olive-green military uniform, moving through the crowd.

Helped by guards, Saddam climbed onto the hood of a car. Some of those cheering him held AK-47 assault rifles.

Alongside Saddam stood a man who resembled his son, Qusay. Though there was nothing to indicate definitively when the pictures were taken, there was a background haze that could have been dust or smoke from US bombardments.

In the 10-minute speech, Saddam's voice sounded subdued. The audio was played over a still picture, but the station did not reveal the source of the soundtrack.

A spokesman for US Central Command said he could not comment on whether the footage showed the real Saddam or a double. "If he is still alive, it's a matter of days," said Ensign David Luckett. "His days are certainly numbered."

In Washington, a US intelligence official said it was too soon to tell if the broadcast was authentic.

Iraqi envoy Sadoun, who headed the office of deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz for 25 years, said he lost all contact with his superiors in Baghdad on April 7.

"After the bombing, I did not get any instructions. Not even a single fax."

The videotape was shot from a distance and alternates between zooming in on Saddam and panning the crowd. Saddam wears a large gold chain around his neck and appears both pleased and haggard.

The US is still searching for Saddam, particularly in Baghdad and in the city of Tikrit, his hometown.