Saddam tape ‘genuine’
The CIA said yesterday that the audiotape purported to have been made by Saddam Hussein, which urged Iraqi citizens to resist US-led occupying forces, was probably genuine.
Spokesman for the intelligence agency, Bill Harlow, said although the exact timing when the poor quality recording was made was as yet unknown, it was nevertheless probably the voice of the toppled dictator.
He said: “We cannot say it with absolute certainty due to the quality of the tape but (it) is most likely him. The date of the recording cannot be determined.”
The recording was broadcast on 4 July on the Arab television network al-Jazeera, the day after the US offered a £15m reward for information leading to Saddam’s capture.
The rhetoric and substance of the message was Saddam’s, officials said.
Should the voice on the tape be Saddam’s, it would appear more likely that the fallen president is alive and in hiding in or near Iraq.
The voice on the tape said: “Brothers and sisters, I have for you good news. Jihad cells and brigades have been organised.
“I would like to make clear that my comrades, my brothers and members of the leadership are now in Iraq. Therefore, I salute them, salute you and salute the mujahedeen in the prisons of the occupations forces and in the battlefield and salute their steadfastness.”
It is claimed that the tape was made around the 14th of June.
