Washington, Sept 18: President George W Bush predicted ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein will eventually be captured or killed but said the definition of victory in Iraq will be when the country is free and peaceful, according to a newspaper interview with Bush. Bush talked about Iraq in an interview yesterday with a number of newspapers from states important to his re-election campaign, such as Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Washington and Oregon. The Seattle post-intelligencer reported that bush said his policies for rebuilding Iraq and dismantling militant organisations are working but the message has not filtered down to the public.

In response to a question about the importance of capturing Saddam, Bush said ''the definition for victory is for there to be a free and peaceful Iraq.''
''And yes, we'd like to capture or kill him as well. And we will at some point in time,'' Bush said.


His comments came as a new audio tape surfaced in which the purported voice of Saddam demanded the united states unconditionally withdraw from Iraq or face ''catastrophic'' losses.


At the White House today, bush held a National Security Council meeting with his top foreign policy and military advisers about what aides called ''progress on Iraq.''


He held a separate meeting with Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and planned an afternoon session with Secretary of State Colin Powell. Bureau Report