Saddam Urges Iraqis to Strike Coalition 
April 4, 2003 11:48 AM EST 

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, seen in this image 
from video, appears in an unannounced television 
broadcast on Iraqi television Friday, April 4, 2003. 
Hussein urged Iraqis to strike at the U.S.-led 
coalition now at the gates of Baghdad. 
(AP Photo/Iraqi TV via APTN)		 BAGHDAD, Iraq - In an unannounced television broadcast Friday designed to rally his people, President Saddam Hussein called on Iraqis to strike at the U.S.-led coalition. The speech made only one topical reference - to the capture of an Apache helicopter March 23, which Iraqi officials have said was brought down by farmers in central Iraq. 

References to the helicopter suggest Saddam's speech was made after the strike aimed at killing him, a U.S. intelligence official said. "Perhaps you remember the valiant Iraqi peasant and how he shot down an American Apache with an old weapon," Saddam said in the brief speech. 

U.S. and British have expressed doubt about whether the Iraqi leader was alive since the opening day of the war, when cruise missiles hit a compound in Baghdad where Saddam was believed to be hiding. 
Military leaders have increasingly raised questions about Saddam's well-being this week, trying to push him into showing himself, Pentagon officials said. 

Saddam's reference to the Apache attack suggests his message, if taped, was made after the strike aimed at killing him on the opending day of war, a U.S. intelligence official said Friday. The message was some of the strongest evidence yet that Saddam survived the March 20 attack. 

The official stopped short of saying the video message, which was broadcast on Iraqi television, provided conclusive proof he was still alive and in command. 

Saddam also said the U.S.-led forces had "bypassed your (Iraqi) armed defenses" in the battlefield and urged his followers to "strike them forcefully, strike them." 

The grim-faced Saddam appeared in a military uniform and beret, with an Iraqi flag over his right shoulder. He paused occasionally to turn the pages of a notebook as he spoke. 

Saddam began by saying coalition forces had failed to shake the steadfastness of the Iraqi people. He called on Baghdad's people to resist and to stick to "your principles, your patriotism and the honor of men and women."