Saddam Hussein today offered a reward for any Iraqi who shoots down a British or US aircraft, or kills or captures a pilot or soldier.
Any Iraqi who kills a serviceman will receive 25 million dinars (about €14,000).
But the reward will be doubled if the enemy is taken alive, said Saddam's decree, which was published by the state-run Iraqi News Agency.
The decree contained a list of reward categories:
- 100 million dinars (€55,500) for shooting down an enemy fighter plane.
- 50 million dinars (€27,770) for shooting down a helicopter.
- 10 million dinars (€5,500) for intercepting a missile.
- An Iraqi who shoots down an enemy fighter jet or helicopter is to get 50 million dinars (€28,000) if the pilot is captured and 25 million dinars (€14,000) if the pilot is killed.
The same reward applies for capturing or killing enemy soldiers on the ground, the Iraqi leader decreed.
Earlier, a CIA analysis of Saddam Hussein's speech broadcast yesterday found it was likely to have been his voice, but it was unclear when the tape was made.
Therefore, it was unclear whether Saddam was alive or not at the time the tape was broadcast following the US military's bombing of a residence on the outskirts of Baghdad late early yesterday.