Baghdad: President Saddam Hussein ordered Iraqi "fighters" to join any unit they
reach to battle coalition forces taking up positions around the capital, in an
address broadcast on April 6 on state television.
"Any fighter who is unable to join his unit for any reason, must join another
available unit, until further orders," he said in a message read by a presenter.
The call to arms came as US commanders said the 3rd Infantry Division had completed
on April 6 the Western portion of a planned encirclement of Baghdad and were waiting
for US Marines to cut off the East.
Saddam told Iraqis on April 5 that the battered capital was still theirs to save and
called for attacks on coalition forces across the country to relieve the pressure on
the city.
That message followed an initial thrust into the capital by US tanks and ground
forces, in which a US commander said an estimated 1,000 Iraqi troops were killed.
Agencies
