Aziz goes on TV to end rumours of his defection

Tariq Aziz, the Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister, made a dramatic appearance before television cameras in Baghdad last night to quash rumours that had spread through Baghdad and around the world that he had been assassinated in an attempt to flee the country.

"I am carrying my pistol to confirm to you that we are ready to fight the aggressors," said Mr Aziz, who was dressed in military uniform. "American soldiers are nothing but mercenaries and they will be defeated."

The defection of Mr Aziz, the only non-Muslim in President Saddam's inner circle, would have been the first fruit of a psychological campaign waged by the United States on the ruling elite in Baghdad. In the final run-up to an invasion, Washington has been striving to trigger defections as well as to nurture disloyalty among President Saddam's forces. The effort peaked at the weekend, when the US State Department said it had compiled a list of a dozen top figures in the Iraqi regime who had their last opportunity to leave the country or face certain prosecution for war crimes.

Washington went so far as to publish the names of nine of those on the list. They included both of President Saddam's sons: Uday, who was accused of torture and rape, and Qusay, who is in charge of security and the elite Republican Guard.

President Saddam has shown signs of trying to pre-empt defections. Earlier this week, he put Qusay and three other officers in command of Iraq's defences and gave himself sole authority to order the use of aircraft and surface-to-surface missiles.

Also named on the list were Ali Hassan al-Hamid, who was the governor of Iraqi-occupied Kuwait in 1990, and Muhammad Hamza al-Zubaidi, who the US says was responsible for atrocities against the Shia in southern Iraq in 1991.

Mr Aziz was not among those named. Diplomats here noted that after being President Saddam's deputy for much of the Eighties and Nineties, Mr Aziz appeared in recent years to have been in a perilous position. Iraq-watchers say President Saddam lost trust in him about five years ago.

A senior diplomatic source said: "He began to tell us privately that he was in freeze-mode back in Baghdad and that every time he went to see [President] Saddam he did not know whether he would come out alive or not."

As Mr Aziz made his appearance last night, there was little sign of President Saddam's inner circle cracking but many observers predict defections may start once the US-led invasion is under way. The US has been cajoling military commanders as well as regular Iraqi soldiers, partly by airdropping millions of leaflets inside Iraq, to turn against their President.

The US military has reportedly been negotiating "capitulation agreements" with Iraqi commanders under which Iraqi troops would turn over most of their weapons and return to their barracks.