WORLD NEWS

March 25, 2003

Where is Saddam?

Saddam Hussein appears on Iraqi television Monday to rally his people, but experts wonder where he really is

Iraqis heard from Saddam Hussein on Monday morning in his first nationally televised address since the first full day of war last Thursday. Appearing in full military uniform, the Iraqi leader tried to rally his people and his troops. Even though Hussein appeared on television, many questions remain about whether he is alive, injured or uninjured, and where he may be hiding.

Saddam's Health in Question

U.S. intelligence officials say they believe Hussein was in a compound hit during the first strikes Thursday morning (Wednesday night U.S. time) in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. Some believe Hussein was injured in those strikes. But in Monday's televised address, Hussein seemed healthier and more relaxed than he did during his last nationally televised address on Thursday. That is partly why intelligence experts question when he made the speech. "Reviewing the tape does not lead anybody to a conclusion that this is something fresh," White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer told reporters at the White House Monday afternoon. Intelligence experts say the tape may have been recorded earlier because Hussein thanked specific Iraqi troops who so far have not been involved in the fighting.

Iraq 'In Control'?

Later, Iraqi television broadcast pictures of what it said was Hussein meeting with his son Qusay on Monday afternoon. Soon afterwards, Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz held a press briefing in which he said Hussein and his top aides are alive and in control of the country and its government. "We are all in control," Aziz said.

In contrast, U.S. officials have said that Hussein and his leadership are losing control of Iraq and that U.S. troops are making quick progress in the war. Baghdad was the target of four waves of bombings on Monday, with the first destroying an Iraqi air force building, among other sites. There were also bombings in the city of Mosul in northern Iraq.

Intense Fighting

U.S.-led coalition ground forces, meanwhile, made their way some 300 miles across the desert sands toward Baghdad. In Nasiriya in central Iraq, 5,000 marines battled to cement control over the city, the scene of intense fighting on Sunday. The fighting has so far left soldiers on both sides dead, wounded, captured or missing. It is not clear, however, exactly how many soldiers on both sides and how many Iraqi citizens have died so far in the conflict.

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