Saddam Hussein Declars Jihad

President Saddam Hussein of Iraq has declared a jihad against the United States and Great Britain. He said that all the Iraqis who were killed in battles would become shaheeds (martyrs who immediately find themselves in the heaven) and that the aggressors would be routed at the gate of Baghdad.

The President's another address to the nation, which was read out by Information Minister Saeed al-Sahhaf, says that "the aggressors will be defeated at the gate of Baghdad" and their armies will be destroyed. The minister was shown by the Qatar satellite television channel Al-Jazeera on Friday.

Saddam Hussein called upon all Iraqis to take arms and to make "the land burning under the feet of the aggressors." Formally, according to Islam, jihad can be declared by the imam, the religious head of the Moslem community, but not by a secular ruler, that is, the incumbent president of Iraq.