Iraq says film shows Saddam is 'fit and well'
Iraqi television has broadcast pictures of a fit and well President Saddam Hussein at work following reports that he had suffered a stroke.
The film, broadcast during a news bulletin, shows the 63-year-old Iraqi leader chairing a cabinet meeting.
He is rumoured to have had a stroke after TV screens went blank without explanation when he is thought to have collapsed at a televised military parade in the capital Baghdad on New Year's Eve.
Iraqi government spokesman Salam Khatab al-Nassiri described the rumours as "silly and nonsensical".
"All the world has seen how President Saddam Hussein stood for more than five hours greeting units of our brave army at the Al-Aqsa parade and how he fired more than 142 shots using one hand at a time when most youth could not do such a thing," he told reporters.
However, Iraqi opposition officials claim there has been extra security on the streets of Baghdad, especially in districts surrounding the presidential palace.
"Something unusual has happened but we don't know exactly what has gone on," Iraqi opposition leader Dr Mowaffak Al-Rubaie told Sky News.
Saddam was last seen at the beginning of the parade shooting a large rifle into the air while his armed forces conducted a massive show of force, parading new surface-to-air missiles and tanks purchased from Russia.
US government officials say they are monitoring the situation. However, they say they have no information on the state of Saddam's health.
If Saddam is ill, it is widely expected that his eldest son Uday will succeed him as Iraqi president.
