Tape shown of possible Saddam walking Baghdad streets
Second tape broadcast today
 |
In this image taken from Iraqi TV, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein greets supporters in Baghdad Friday.
Story Tools
VIDEO
|
Iraqi TV broadcast video Friday that shows Saddam Hussein greeting his followers in the streets of Baghdad, but some experts question the veracity of the video. (April 4)
|
VIDEO
|
Watch the TV address, said to be by Saddam Hussein, which refers to events that have happened since the war began. (April 4)
|
SPECIAL REPORT
|
|
|
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Videotape aired Friday by Lebanese Broadcasting Corp. showed a man who appeared to be Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein walking through the streets of Baghdad in the midst of an excited, cheering crowd.
The broadcast marked the second time Friday that footage had been shown of Saddam. Earlier, in another prerecorded appearance on Iraqi television, Saddam exhorted his followers to fight the U.S.-led invasion "with what you have available."
All Saddam's television appearances since the war began have been prerecorded, but in the Iraqi television tape, he for the first time referred to incidents that happened after the start of the war.
The Iraqi leader was the target of the first U.S. airstrike, and top U.S. officials have repeatedly questioned whether he survived the raid.
U.S. experts plan to analyze that tape, but it "doesn't matter" whether the video was genuine, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Friday.
"Whether it is him or whether it isn't him, the regime's days are numbered and coming to an end," Fleischer said.
Thursday, Pentagon officials told CNN their analysts had concluded that it was likely all Saddam videotapes broadcast since the war's opening salvos had been recorded earlier.
In Saddam's most recent television appearance, some members of the throng that surrounded him held rifles aloft as the Iraqi president worked his way through the crowd, smiling broadly.
A man walking next to him appeared to be Abid Hamoud, Saddam's press secretary.
In one shot, what appears to be a column of smoke can be seen, and from time to time a large volume of automobile traffic is visible.
It is not known when that footage might have been taped, but it appears to have been shot on the western outskirts of the capital, close to the Jordanian Embassy.
Though it was prerecorded, the tape was touted as "live" coverage.
-- CNN Correspondent Nic Robertson contributed to this report.
