In a television broadcast Friday, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein called on Iraqis to strike at the U.S.-led forces.
The speech made one topical reference to the capture of an Apache helicopter March 23, which Iraqi officials have said was brought down by farmers in central Iraq. "Perhaps you remember the valiant Iraqi peasant and how he shot down an American Apache with an old weapon," Saddam said in his brief speech.
Saddam added the invasion forces had "bypassed your (Iraqi) armed defenses" in the battlefield and urged his followers to "strike them forcefully, strike them."
Saddam began by saying enemy forces had failed to shake the steadfastness of the Iraqi people. He called on Baghdad's people to resist and to stick to "your principles, your patriotism and the honor of men and women."
Meanwhile, the Iraqi information minister promised Friday that his nation's military would launch an "unconventional" counterattack against the invasion troops.
"We will do something which I believe is very beautiful," said Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf at a Baghdad news conference, adding that the Iraqis planned to strike back "in an unconventional way." Asked if that meant the use of chemical weapons or other weapons of mass destruction, he quickly said no.
"What I meant are commando and martyrdom operations in a very new, creative way," al-Sahhaf said.
U.S. armored units, backed by warplanes, head earlier seized control of Baghdad's airport. And 2,500 Republican Guard soldiers south of the capital surrendered to Marines, American officials said.
In western Iraq, some 130 kilometers from the Syrian border, a car exploded at a checkpoint, killing three US soldiers, the driver and a pregnant woman who had emerged from the car screaming in fear, U.S. officials said. Central Command said it appeared to be a suicide attack, similar to the bombing at a checkpoint in south-central Iraq last week that killed four U.S. soldiers.
Another soldier and an embedded reporter were killed when a Humvee went into a canal, said Navy Lt. Herlinda Rojas, a spokeswoman at Coalition Press Information Center in Kuwait City. No time, location or details about the fatal accident were provided. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
