A letter purportedly written by Saddam Hussein called on Iraq's powerful Shi'ite Muslim clergy to call for a jihad against the US occupation, Al Jazeera television reported today.
"If the hawza (Shi'ite seminaries) calls for a jihad, this would unify the whole Iraqi people against the occupation," said the letter that the Arabic satellite channel said was written by Saddam in answer to questions sent to him.
The authenticity of the handwritten could not be immediately established. Al Jazeera showed footage of the letter without giving details of how it was obtained.
The letter praised Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, a senior cleric highly respected by Iraq's Shi'ite majority, who has rarely taken clearly political positions.
"We respect Mr Sistani and the priority at this stage is to eject the foreigners and establish peace and safety.
"And the position of Mr Sistani and the whole hawza in Najaf is important to the jihad of the Iraqi people," it said.
Several audio tapes purportedly by Saddam have been aired by Arab broadcasters since he was deposed in April by a US-led invasion. CIA analysis of some of the tapes has found they were most probably the voice of Saddam, who has evaded US forces despite a $25 million bounty offered by Washington.