Baghdad, Iraq ? In an audiotape broadcast Wednesday, a speaker purporting to be Saddam Hussein urged Iraqis to escalate attacks on Americans and called on U.S. and other coalition forces to leave the country “as soon as possible and without any conditions.”

The speaker, who sounded like the ousted Iraqi leader, also urged America’s international partners not to “fall prey in the traps of American foreign policy” and reject any plan for Iraq that legitimizes military occupation.

He called on coalition leaders “to withdraw your armies as soon as possible and without any conditions, because there is no reason for further losses that will be disastrous for America if your officials … continue their aggression.”

The speaker accused President Bush of lying to “your people and everyone” to justify the war against Iraq, adding that “the losses in your army … makes your declaration of defeat and your retreat inevitable, if not today, tomorrow.”

Bush launched the war in March after accusing Saddam of ignoring U.N. orders to account for his weapons of mass destruction, which the Iraqis insisted they no longer had. U.S. investigators have been unable to find such weapons.

Identity unclear

The 14-minute tape attributed to Saddam was broadcast by the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya satellite television station. News editor Aymen Gaballah said the tape was received Wednesday in Baghdad after someone called the station and told them where to find it. The station said it aired the tape in its entirety. It was at least the eighth such message attributed to Saddam since his ouster.

The speaker said the tape was recorded in mid-September, which could not be confirmed. There also was no way to immediately verify whether the voice was indeed that of Saddam’s; intelligence officials said the CIA was reviewing the tape.

U.S. troops at the scene of a roadside bomb attack give first aid to injured on the ground on a highway near Al-Taji, Iraq. North of Baghdad, there were at least three separate attacks on U.S. forces with roadside bombs in less than 1 1/2 hours Wednesday morning.

Addressing Iraqis, the speaker said he was bringing “pleasant news” that “losses have begun to eat away at the enemy like wildfire.”

Under attack

Coalition troops face ongoing attacks by Iraqi resistance fighters, described by the Bush administration as remnants of the ousted regime. On Wednesday, three bombing attacks were reported against U.S. troops about 12 miles north of Baghdad. Witnesses reported injured soldiers but details were unclear. The military confirmed the first attack and said one soldier was wounded.

The commander of the U.S.-led coalition was quoted Wednesday as saying American soldiers now face revenge attacks from ordinary Iraqis angered by the U.S. occupation.

“We have seen that when we have an incident in the conduct of our operations, when we killed an innocent civilian, based on their ethic, their values, their culture, they would seek revenge,” Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez was quoted as saying by The Times newspaper in London.

The tape also warned America’s partners on the U.N. Security Council to avoid signing off on any plans for Iraq that leave the country under military occupation. Leaders of Germany, France and Britain meet in Berlin this weekend to try to coordinate their positions on Iraq, including their response to U.S. calls for more peacekeeping troops and money.