An audiotape purportedly made by the ousted president Saddam Hussein told Iraqis on Sunday that the United States and its allies misjudged the difficulty of occupying Iraq and that Iraqis will rebel against their "evil intentions."
The voice greeted the Iraqi people on the occasion of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and said the "evil ones will not be able to occupy and colonize Iraq."
The tape was broadcast on the Arabic language television station Al-Arabiya.
"They thought and made others also think that they were going on a picnic to occupy Iraq and destroy their weapons of mass destruction," the voice said, denying that Iraq had any such arms.
"Iraq will rebel against their evil intentions to colonize it and to wield influence in it," he said. "The evil ones now find themselves in a crisis and this is God's will for them."
Meanwhile, American forces raided a Baghdad neighborhood Sunday and fired a missile at an alleged training base in northern Iraq, part of its new offensive against resistance fighters.
The US military fired a satellite-guided missile with a 500-pound warhead from Taji, north of Baghdad, and hit a suspected training base west of Kirkuk, about 200 kilometers away, said Lt. Col. William MacDonald, spokesman of the 4th Infantry Division.
MacDonald said it was the first time such missiles have been used since the end of major combat on May 1.
In Baghdad, U.S. troops backed by armored vehicles and helicopters moved into the Sunni Muslim neighborhood of Azamiyah, sealing off a 20-block area and searching 450 houses over seven hours. They netted 30 Kalashnikovs, about a dozen shotguns and 10 pistols, according to U.S. officers.
In addition, occupation forces arrested 21 people, although all were expected to be released Monday. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
