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BAGHDAD, July 5: Seven US-trained Iraqi police recruits were killed and 40 wounded in a blast on Saturday, a day after a tape purporting to be of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein praised cells waging deadly strikes against US-led forces.
“Up to seven Iraqi police recruits were killed and possibly up to 40 Iraqis wounded,” a senior US military spokesman said.
“We don’t specifically know (what caused the blast) but it was some type of explosion” in Ramadi, around 100 kilometres west of Baghdad, he said.
According to a police official, the recruits were finishing their third day of training when the blast struck. He put the number of dead at seven, adding that as many as 45 were wounded.
One resident, Kamal Abdel Razzak, a civil servant, said police recruits had received threats not to cooperate with the US authorities.
The blast came a day after the airing by Qatar’s Al Jazeera news channel of an audiotape in which a voice believed to be that of Mr Saddam said that he was still in the country, directing cells of warriors to fight the occupation forces.
The ousted Iraqi leader, whose whereabouts have been a mystery since the US-led forces seized Baghdad on April 9, also called in the tape attributed to him on the Iraqi people “to provide a cover for the heroic mujahideen ... (who) are entitled to protect themselves, including by punishing those who deliberately harm them”.
“It is difficult for us to stop them from doing so. Hence we call for ensuring the security of the Mujahideen and informing on any spy or cursed deviant who does not hesitate to carry out a subversive role.”
Saturday’s explosion also came a day after US Independence Day celebrations in Iraq were marred by the death of one American soldier and the injuring of 16 others in separate attacks.
But a military official said on Saturday US troops were pursuing Operation Sidewinder, a hunt for Saddam loyalists north of Baghdad where guerilla attacks have been taking place.
Asked if the airing of the audiotape would affect the search, she said: “It is an ongoing operation.”
“It is continuing without any hindrance whatsoever,” she stressed, adding defiantly: “The operation will be effective regardless.”
LEAFLETS: In Saddam’s hometown of Tikrit, north of Baghdad, leaflets were distributed on Friday night in the name of “the Iraq Liberation Army, the Army of Mohammed”, vowing to “make the war to liberate Iraq a hellish war”.
It called on former members of the Baath party, Republican Guards, Special Guards, intelligence services and Fedayeen to “prove to your people that you are men and that you will spill blood to erase the shame”.
It also called on Iraqis not to cooperate with the occupation forces and to keep away from them because “we will strike them and we do not want anyone of you to be harmed”.
Although the US military launched two major offensives last month to crush the guerillas’ strongholds, attacks have continued unabated, giving rise to speculation that the occupation forces might be losing control of the situation.
Three US soldiers were killed and 36 wounded in the past week despite renewed efforts to root out Saddam loyalists, whose tactics of grenade and rocket attacks, and sniper shootings, have claimed the lives of at least 26 Americans since major combat was declared finished on May 1.
The United States, which on Thursday announced a 25-million-dollar reward for information leading to Saddam’s arrest, said the tape would be analysed.
“We don’t know if he’s dead or alive,” said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.—AFP
