Saddam’s ‘final public appearance’

Alongside him stood a man who resembled his younger son, Qusay. Though there was nothing to indicate definitively when the footage was taken, haze was visible in the background that could have been dust – but also could have been smoke from US bombardments.

Abu Dhabi TV’s correspondent, Jaber Obeid, said the person who handed the tape to the network assured them that it was shot in Baghdad on April 9.
The station said the footage, taken in the Azamiyah neighbourhood of Baghdad, "showed that there were parts of Baghdad that hadn’t fallen at that day and that still had Iraqi security presence in them."

Saddam has been known to use doubles for protection. The man shown in the footage resembled him but appeared smaller and slighter than the Iraqi president and showed a visible belly paunch.

The footage was shot from a distance and alternated between zooming in on Saddam and panning the crowd that was rushing him. In the video, Saddam has a large gold chain around his neck and appears both pleased and haggard.

The United States is still searching for Saddam inside Iraq, especially in Baghdad and the city of Tikrit, his hometown.

Resolving the fate of Saddam – either capturing him or killing him – would be a major victory for American forces in their invasion of Iraq.