Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has called on Muslims around the world to wage holy war against the United States and Britain, after dozens more Iraqi civilians were reported killed by coalition air attacks.
The president issued the call on state television on night 13 of the war to topple him from power, appealing to international fury over the latest killings of women and children.
But US President George W Bush blamed Saddam for civilian deaths, as US and British forces continued both the air blitz and their grinding, bitterly fought ground campaign.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said: "Most innocents have been lost in this war at the hands of Saddam Hussein and his henchmen. That's who is to blame for the loss of innocent lives."
But in a speech read by Information Minister Mohammed Said al-Sahhaf, Saddam said jihador holy war was a "duty" for Arabs and Muslims and called the US-led war an attack on "religion, property, people and honour".
US commanders say they do not know if Saddam, who has almost always steered clear of live television during his 24-year rule, remains alive after the thousands of air strikes which have pounded Iraq since March 20th.
Iraqi officials have scorned the suggestion, while state television regularly shows him meeting with his inner circle. It is not known if the footage is pre-recorded.
His latest rally cry came after at least 48 more civilians, many women and children, were reported dead in the round-the-clock aerial assault that has been pummelling Baghdad and surrounding areas.
The images of carnage played over and over on Arab television stations, and press reports in the United States about internal dissent over how to prosecute the war, have proved a public relations headache for Washington.
Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan said more than 3,000 Arab volunteers were waiting in Baghdad ready to "martyr" themselves against ground forces.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International called on the United States to undertake a full, independent inquiry into the shooting of seven women and children at a US military roadblock in Iraq yesterday.
"Anyone suspected of unlawfully killing civilians must be brought to justice," they said in a statement.
Amnesty said that the duty of Washington and London to protect their own soldiers could not justify any violation of international humanitarian law.
"The military must implement measures that will safeguard the lives of civilians and other non-combatants and ensure that incidents like this are never repeated," it said.
Agencies