A handwritten message purported to be from toppled Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was broadcast by Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television on Wednesday.
The letter was apparently Saddam's response to a journalist's questions about statements made by Ibrahim Jafari, the first president of Iraq's interim Governing Council.
Saddam's message urged Iraq’s Shiite Muslim clergy to call for a jihad against US occupation, al-Jazeera reported.
"If the hawza [Shiite seminaries] calls for a jihad, this would unify the whole Iraqi people against the occupation," said the letter.
Additionally, the letter notably saluted a top Iraqi Shiite leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani.
Sistani is viewed by US officials as a crucial force for moderation in post-war Iraq. But he has expressed unhappiness at the US occupation and demanded that the United States allow Iraqis to rule themselves.
"Sayyed Sistani has our appreciation," he said, said Saddam's letter.
Meanwhile, the United States introduced a resolution Wednesday that would establish a U.N. mission in Iraq and welcome the Iraqi Governing Council as "an important step" toward the formation of a true government. The move faced strong opposition from Syria.
U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte called for a Thursday vote after closed-door consultations, but Syria's U.N. Ambassador Mikhail Wehbe, the current council president, said, "We will see whether we are able to vote tomorrow or not," the AP reported.
The United States reached agreement on the text with the other permanent Security Council members - Russia, China, Britain and France - before the draft was presented Wednesday to the 10 non-permanent council members.
(Albawaba.com)
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