Washington: Saddam Hussein planned the insurgency targeting coalition forces in Iraq long before the invasion that toppled his regime, a secret US military intelligence report has said.

Anticipating his defeat, Saddam began laying the foundation for the insurgency before the military campaign in March 2003, a media report quoting the report has claimed.

In the autumn of 2002, the Iraqi dictator dispatched more than 1,000 security and intelligence officers to two military facilities near Baghdad where they underwent two months of guerrilla training, 'US News and World Report' magazine said yesterday (Dec 12, 2004).

"Saddam regime elements are still playing a significant role in the insurgency," Michael Rubin, a former Pentagon official, who recently returned from a fact-finding mission to Iraq, said.

"Of course, there are many other insurgents, but most certainly Saddam planned his insurgency long before we invaded Iraq," he added.

Saddam, according to the report, established "new subversive organisations to carry out attacks against coalition forces. He also directed regime leaders and supporters to use Sunni mosques for secret meeting places and reports describe how mosques were used to store weapons," the magazine said.

Reports indicate that Saddam's forces were working with foreign terrorists, including al-Qaeda, in carrying out attacks. "Al-Qaeda is capitalising on the current economic plight of former military members and local Iraqis by enticing them with monetary rewards," another report said.