May 26, 2008

Saddam Hussein's former deputy has vowed that loyalists to the deposed dictator will continue fighting until the US withdraws from Iraq, according to an interview.

Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, a fugitive with a 10 million dollar (£5 million) bounty on his head, has not been seen publicly since the fall of Saddam's regime in April 2003.

The interview with al-Douri was published in Al-Mawqif Al-Arabi, a little-known Egyptian tabloid known to have close links with the former Iraqi regime.

The paper's editor, Abbel-Azim Manas, said he interviewed al-Douri "on the battlefield" but would not provide additional details.

Al-Douri said some 120,000 loyalists to the former Baath regime have been killed in fighting since the US invaded Iraq in 2003, but he pledged the "resistance" will continue "until the total liberation of Iraq".

Saddam's former deputy said Baathists have been sending suicide bombers, including women, to carry out attacks in Iraq.

Al-Douri is believed to play an important part in financing Sunni insurgents, though little is known about how directly he leads fighters on the ground.

Saddam loyalists are thought to participate in a number of insurgent groups that have carried out attacks in the past, particularly the Islamic Army of Iraq, Ansar al-Sunna and Mohammed's Army.

In October, more than two dozen small Sunni insurgent groups announced a coalition led by al-Douri, but it has been little heard from since.

Al-Douri said in today's interview that regime loyalists would negotiate with the US over ending violence in Iraq if Washington agreed to withdraw its troops, abolish the current Iraqi government and recognise the Baathists as "the legitimate representative of the Iraqi people".