Arabic television plays tape

Saudi Arabia: An Arabic television station yesterday broadcast a purported audio tape from the deposed Iraqi president, Saddam…

Saudi Arabia: An Arabic television station yesterday broadcast a purported audio tape from the deposed Iraqi president, Saddam Hussein, in which he called on Iraqis to wage holy war against occupying forces and warned of more deaths for US-led troops.

"Fighting them . . . is a legitimate, patriotic and humanitarian duty, and the occupiers have no choice but to leave our country, Iraq, the country of Arabs and Islam, as cursed losers," said the speaker.

"The path of jihad and resistance is the best path under God, humankind and history and is the only path which will guarantee the expulsion of the tyrannical foreign forces from our country and grant total freedom and sovereignty to our people in their land," he said in a statement marking the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.

The last time a purported Saddam audio tape was aired was September 17th, also by Al Arabiya. - (Reuters)