Baghdad: Saddam Hussein hailed the "courageous" resistance put up by Iraqi fighters in the Al-Kut region in a message read on state television on April 3 by Iraqi Information Minister Mohamed Said Al-Sahhaf.

The tribute comes after US forces claimed to have inflicted heavy losses on Iraqi divisions around Al-Kut, 150 km South East of Baghdad, and reports said US troops were headed towards the capital.

"Your noble struggle and your resistance have soothed our hearts," said the message, which Sahhaf said was addressed to the local leader of Saddam's ruling Baath Party, Ghazi Al-Obeidi.

"O courageous men, Ghazi and his comrades, may God bless you as you lead the valiant men ready for sacrifice to defend Iraq and Wassit," the province where Al-Kut is located, the message said.

The report said the message was also intended for Baath Party fighters as well as the Jerusalem Army, a group of volunteer fighters that Baghdad has said numbers some six million people. Saddam was not shown.

Baghdad has dismissed US suggestions that Saddam is no longer in effective control of the country he has ruled since 1979, or that he may have been killed in the thousands of coalition air strikes since the war began on March 20.

He has been shown on television chairing meetings of his inner circle, but it is unknown when that footage was recorded.