WASHINGTON, Aug 8: Iraqi President Saddam Hussein plans to avoid open desert fighting and mass his forces in major cities in case of a US invasion, the Los Angeles Times reported on Thursday.

The strategy was outlined in general terms to Iraqi regional officials, unnamed current and former US intelligence officials told the newspaper. The statements were relayed from Iraq to US intelligence operatives through Iraqi defectors and opposition groups.

“Hussein’s comments on a defensive strategy represent the first indication of how he intends to respond to any US attack. A former US intelligence official said he was told of Hussein’s comments during recent meetings with Iraqi dissidents and opposition groups in London. A US defense intelligence official said American intelligence has collected similar information and considers it reliable,” the Times reported.

Saddam’s strategy appears to center on drawing US forces into Baghdad and other cities, where his equipment and troops would be surrounded by civilians and less exposed to United States warplanes, which played a major part in the Gulf War.

“Military targets in Baghdad are sprinkled among a population approaching 5 million. Hussein has constructed an elaborate warren of underground bunkers and escape routes,” the Times reported.

President George W. Bush and his national security team were briefed on several options on Monday by Gen. Tommy Franks, head of US Central Command.

Among those options was a plan in which the United States would strike Baghdad first in an attempt to separate Iraq’s military forces and equipment and cause a collapse of the regime, the newspaper said.

Experts told the Times it was difficult to assess how long it would take for US forces to seize Baghdad, partly because of questions about the potential performance and loyalty of Saddam’s elite troops and intelligence agencies.

President Bush promised on Wednesday to be “patient and deliberate” in considering options concerning Iraq but signaled that the United States remained committed to toppling a dictator accused of developing weapons of mass destruction and supporting terrorism.

“These are real threats, and we owe it to our children to deal with these threats,” Bush said in a speech at Madison Central High School in Madison, Mississippi.

In Baghdad on Thursday, Saddam said he was not frightened by US threats and his country was ready to repel any attack.

“There is no other choice for those who use threat and aggression but to be repelled even if they were to bring harm to their targets,” Saddam said in a 22-minute taped televised speech to the nation.

“I say it in such clear terms so that no weakling should imagine that when we ignore responding to ill talk, then this means that we are frightened by the impudent threats ... and so that no greedy tyrant should be misled into an action the consequences of which are beyond their calculations,” he said.—Reuters