A group saying it is an Iraqi branch of the al-Qaeda terror network has said that it, and not Saddam Hussein, is behind the armed resistance against US forces in Iraq, according to a tape shown on an Arab TV station today.
The voice on the tape, which the Dubai-based Arabiya aired along with a photograph of an unidentified white-bearded man wearing a turban, also warned of a new anti-US attack in the days to come which would "break the back of America completely".
It was not clear if he was referring to an attack in Iraq or somewhere else. The identity of the man in the photograph was not immediately clear.
An executive from the station had no details on the man.
The voice on the tape, which was delivered to the station's Baghdad office, described himself as a member of the "Islamic Armed Group of al-Qaeda, Fallujah branch".
The voice on the tape denied that Iraq's deposed president had had anything to do with the continuing Iraqi resistance against the presence of US-led forces in Iraq, saying his group was behind the series of fatal attacks.
"We warn the American forces to leave Iraq's territories and to live up to their promises," the voice said.
"I call on the Iraqi people not to believe what the toppled leader said," the voice added, while urging Iraqis not to follow their "emotions".
"By God, not one of \ followers carried out any of the Jihadi [holy war\] operations like he claims. But it was a success granted by God and ... to our Mujahideen brothers."
Fallujah and the nearby city of Ramadi, west of Baghdad, have been the scene of a series of fatal attacks on US forces by suspected Saddam loyalists.
The US military announced yesterday that it was turning over policing of Fallujah, in the so-called Sunni Triangle, to Iraqi police at the request of local law enforcement officials and the US-appointed mayor of the town.
There have been unconfirmed reports that Saddam, who is believed to be hiding somewhere in Iraq, is paying those who launch attacks against US and British forces.
Fallujah police demanded this week that American forces withdraw from their station, saying they feared being caught in the cross-fire if insurgents launched attacks in the city again.
Meanwhile, a bomb exploded near a police station in a Baghdad suburb on Sunday, killing one person and wounding another, witnesses and a US army officer said.
A headless body lay at the scene of the explosion in the western suburb of Maysaloun, next to the wreckage of a car on its side with its roof ripped off.
US soldiers guarded the area while others drove the wounded man to hospital.
"On the side of the road, there was a bomb that exploded," a US army lieutenant at the scene told Reuters.
"One Iraqi local was killed, another one was wounded."
The police station is sometimes visited by US soldiers, who have come under daily attack in mainly Sunni Muslim central Iraq in recent weeks.
Members of a US-backed local police force have also been targeted by resistance fighters for co-operating with the occupying powers. - (PA, Reuters)