Iraq battles widespread rumors of Saddam's death

NICOSIA — Iraq is fighting a flurry of claims that President Saddam Hussein might have died.

The assertions are coming from various sources in the Middle East. These include the Iraqi opposition in London and Damascus as well as Egyptian and Palestinian sources.

A Palestinian source with contacts to the leadership said Saddam died after he was hospitalized on late Sunday. Egyptian sources have made similar assertions.

The Iraqi regime has rebutted these claims. The Information Ministry in Baghdad called the reports "stupid" while the official Iraqi News Agency said Saddam chaired a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

Arab diplomatic sources said this is a departure from Baghdad's usual practice of ignoring such reports. But they discounted the reports that Saddam has collapsed.

Still, Western officials urged Saddam monitors not to be fooled by Iraqi television footage of Saddam working in his office.

"We are aware that there are media reports around that Saddam Hussein has suffered a heart attack or stroke but we have no inside information at all confirming these reports," British Foreign Office Minister John Battle told the British Broadcasting Corp. "The regime has got a reputation for manipulating TV images, as we have seen before, and it's in the nature of this closed regime that the information to confirm or otherwise is not available."

On Monday, the Damascus-based Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq announced that Saddam sustained a severe stroke in Baghdad as he was reviewing a New Year's military parade. Opposition sources in London said Saddam had earlier sustained a minor stroke or heart attack over the weekend.

The London-based A-Sharq Al Awsat daily quoted an Iraqi source in Switzerland as saying Saddam sustained a severe heart attack and was hospitalized. The Saudi-owned newspaper has in the past frequently published claims that Saddam health is failing.

The uncertainty takes place as Iraqi Deputy Trade Minister Fakhri Rishan holds talks with Iranian officials on improving economic cooperation. Rishan heads a high-ranking delegation as the two countries seek to overcome such obstacles to a reconciliation as support for opposition groups and a dispute over prisoners of war.

On Thursday, the London-based Al Zaman daily reported that Saddam has ordered the execution of several senior military officers. The newspaper said two generals — identified as Osama Hassan Yawer and Taleb Saadoun — had been in prison for about two years on charges of criticizing Saddam.

At the same time, Iraqi leaders again raised the prospect of war with Israel. "We are ready to execute the orders of our command at any time and have taken the necessary measures to support our Arab brothers if they are the target of aggression," Iraqi Defense Minister Sultan Hashem Ahmad was quoted by the Al Zawra weekly as saying. "The Iraqi army, which is at the head of the armies in the region, is capable of facing up to the U.S. military technology."