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Analysts believe Saddam tapes to be genuine
Dubai, July 25: The voice is the same. The combative Arab rhetoric has Saddam Hussein`s signature.
Dubai, July 25: The voice is the same. The combative Arab rhetoric has Saddam Hussein's signature.
The man whose words have always got the attention of people and leaders in the Middle East is still around to taunt the Americans, analysts say.
His new medium is a series of calls-to-arms audio tapes, aired by Arab broadcasters. But that was before his two sons, Uday and Qusay, were killed on Tuesday in a six-hour gunbattle with US forces in the Northern city of Mosul.
Analysts said the tapes might frighten Iraqis, who have not yet forgotten Saddam's ruthless rule, but doubted his messages of defiance would rally popular support around him.
''It all sounds much the same (as Saddam), from the sentiment and comparing them with different tapes and addresses,'' Charles Tripp, a historian on Iraq at London's School of Oriental and African Studies, told reporters.
''They (tapes) have a weightiness Saddam likes to give to his voice to talk to the Iraqi people -- the pessimistic gloomy voice,'' he added.
The latest Saddam audio tape, aired on Wednesday and dated two days before his sons' deaths, urged Iraqis to fight occupying US forces saying the battle was not yet over. It was his fourth message of resistance and defiance in a month.
''We tell our armed forces and our people that if America has achieved military superiority, it will not achieve supremacy in the battle of wills against the Iraqi people,'' said the tape, aired by Dubai-based Al Arabiya Television.
A CIA technical analysis of the tape has determined that it was ''likely'' the voice of Saddam, whom US forces have failed to find despite a massive manhunt.
''Although it cannot be determined with absolute certainty, CIA's assessment after a technical analysis of the tape is that it is likely that it is Saddam Hussein's voice,'' a US intelligence official told reporters in Washington yesterday.
Bureau Report
The man whose words have always got the attention of people and leaders in the Middle East is still around to taunt the Americans, analysts say.
His new medium is a series of calls-to-arms audio tapes, aired by Arab broadcasters. But that was before his two sons, Uday and Qusay, were killed on Tuesday in a six-hour gunbattle with US forces in the Northern city of Mosul.
Analysts said the tapes might frighten Iraqis, who have not yet forgotten Saddam's ruthless rule, but doubted his messages of defiance would rally popular support around him.
''It all sounds much the same (as Saddam), from the sentiment and comparing them with different tapes and addresses,'' Charles Tripp, a historian on Iraq at London's School of Oriental and African Studies, told reporters.
''They (tapes) have a weightiness Saddam likes to give to his voice to talk to the Iraqi people -- the pessimistic gloomy voice,'' he added.
The latest Saddam audio tape, aired on Wednesday and dated two days before his sons' deaths, urged Iraqis to fight occupying US forces saying the battle was not yet over. It was his fourth message of resistance and defiance in a month.
''We tell our armed forces and our people that if America has achieved military superiority, it will not achieve supremacy in the battle of wills against the Iraqi people,'' said the tape, aired by Dubai-based Al Arabiya Television.
A CIA technical analysis of the tape has determined that it was ''likely'' the voice of Saddam, whom US forces have failed to find despite a massive manhunt.
''Although it cannot be determined with absolute certainty, CIA's assessment after a technical analysis of the tape is that it is likely that it is Saddam Hussein's voice,'' a US intelligence official told reporters in Washington yesterday.
Bureau Report