Saddam: Iraqis Confident After Vote

17/10/2002| IslamWeb

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein said the referendum re-electing him for another seven years has increased the determination of Iraq's people to fight for their country, Iraqi media reported Thursday. Saddam spoke Wednesday at a meeting of the Revolutionary Command Council, Iraq's main decision-making government body, the official daily al-Iraq said.

The meeting was shown on state television but - as usual for Iraq TV - without sound. The broadcast came after Iraq announced that 100 percent of the more than 11 million Iraqis casting ballots in Tuesday's referendum voted "yes" on extending Saddam's term.

"After announcement of the referendum's results, Iraqis have become more confident in the future and more determined to fight for and to build their country," al-Iraq quoted Saddam as saying.

He also criticized the United States for what he said was an effort to sway the vote's outcome by intensifying a propaganda drive against his leadership.

"This shows that they (the Americans) are ignorant of the psychology of the Iraqi people ... especially when such peoples have trusted their leaders and chosen the right path," he said.

He added that the U.S. administration was "incapable of knowing the psychology and the reaction of the Iraqi people."

In scenes shown on TV, the Command Council members did most of the talking while Saddam listened. Saddam was in a suit and waved his glasses around for emphasis at times when he spoke. The members - all in military uniforms - leaned attentively toward Saddam, who is the council chairman.

Tuesday's referendum was ridiculed by Iraqis in exile and was described as "not serious" by the United States.

Baghdad erupted in celebratory gunfire after announcement of the vote Wednesday morning, but the city seemed normal for the rest of the day. On Thursday, the only sign of Saddam's victory was one line of honking cars decorated with ribbons and Saddam posters, presumably organized by his Baath Party.

On Thursday, the Babil newspaper owned by Saddam's eldest son, Odai, carried the headline: "100 Percent is Not Enough! To Express our Love and Loyalty to Saddam Hussein."

The United States, which accuses Iraq of possessing weapons of mass destruction, is pressing for a new U.N. Security Council resolution that would give U.N. weapons inspectors broad powers to search for hidden arms in Iraq.

Washington wants a clause in the resolution authorizing a war against Iraq if it resists full inspections, but France has been leading a campaign against a so-called automatic trigger.

Iraq has been under U.N. Security Council sanctions since invading Kuwait in 1990. U.N. resolutions require the country to destroy all its weapons of mass destruction. The sanctions cannot be lifted unless the weapons inspectors declare the country free of prohibited weapons.

PHOTO CAPTION

Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein chairs an early morning meeting in Baghdad on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2002, following his victory in the referendum on his two decade military rule. President Saddam Hussien received a 100 percent Yes vote from Iraqis voters. (AP Photo/INA).