DATE=01/06/01

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=IRAQ/SADDAM (S&L)

NUMBER=2-271098

BYLINE=DALE GAVLAK

DATELINE=CAIRO

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: For the third time this week, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has appeared on state-run television, dispelling opposition rumors that he had suffered a stroke. Saddam addressed the Iraqi people to commemorate Army Day, praising Palestinians for their uprising against Israel. Dale Gavlak reports from V-O-A's Middle East bureau in Cairo.

TEXT: Appearing healthy and robust, President Saddam Hussein lauded the Iraqi army for its "glorious" war with Iran and for the Gulf War, which he continues to call "the Immortal Mother of All Battles."

Interestingly, the Iraqi leader's speech contained no reference to the new U-S administration of President-elect George W. Bush. Mr. Bush's father ordered the Gulf War against Saddam's troops a decade ago this month to oust Iraqi forces from Kuwait.

The speech also made no mention of high-level talks, aimed at resolving the impasse over weapons inspections in Iraq, scheduled to take place soon between Baghdad and the United Nations.

Press reports this week, attributed to exiled Iraqi opposition leaders, alleged that the 63-year-old president had suffered a stroke last Sunday. Iraq's Information Ministry dismissed the reports.

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Iraqi T-V showed Saddam chairing a cabinet meeting on Wednesday in what was believed to be an attempt to refute rumors about his so-called "hospitalization". Other dissident reports claimed the Iraqi president had "died of a stroke."

On Thursday, state-run T-V broadcast pictures of a relaxed, cigar-smoking Saddam chatting with mainly Egyptian entertainers in Baghdad. He told the actors that the Iraqi people stood ready to help "liberate

Palestine" from the Israelis and fight the United States once again. (Signed)

NEB/DG/DW/TDW