"America will pay an enormous price such as it has never paid in all its history"

the Culture and Information Bureau of the Iraqi Baath Party issued a statement in which it declared that the life of Iraqi President Saddam Husayn and his comrades "is a red line that the occupation must not cross."

The Baath said in its statement that it "forcibly warns the American administration against the consequences of harming the President and his comrades and declares that America will pay an enormous price such as it has never paid in all its history if the President is caused any harm."

"This is absolutely not a threat," the Baath statement said, "it is rather a statement of fact."

The Baath declared: "Our Party demands that the American Administration immediately and unconditionally release the President and his comrades. That is one of the fundamental preconditions for any negotiation such as America is now feverishly striving to hold with the Party and the Iraqi
National Resistance."

"Accordingly," the Baath statement emphasized, "any arm done to the President will close the door to any possible negotiations and a final resolution will be taken not to allow any American forces to leave in flight
from Iraq unless thousands of bodies go out with them in plastic bags or every inch of soil is covered in their bodies strewn around the country. The world will then witness once again, but this time an even more humiliating disorganized and cowardly flight from the green earth in their aircraft amidst the intense artillery and rocket bombardments of the Resistance - a route greater than what took place in Viet Nam."

Meanwhile, one night before the scheduled announcement of the "verdict" in the US-run show "trial" of Iraqi President Saddam Husayn, the American-installed puppet "Prime Minister" Nuri al-Maliki had declared a curfew to begin at dawn on Sunday and to last until further notice.

The curfew will be in force in Baghdad and the provinces of Diyala and Salah ad-Din.  The curfew is to constitute a complete ban on all motor traffic and pedestrian movement.  All gatherings in residential areas are also banned and major shops and markets closed.

A spokesman for the American-installed puppet regime appeared on official television to announce the curfew and to declare that it was due to the planned announcement of the "verdict" on the Iraqi President, which is set for 10am local time Sunday morning.

On Saturday afternoon, US occupation troops and their puppet army allies began to deploy in predominantly Sunni areas of Baghdad.  The puppet regime expects a violent popular reaction to the "verdict" of the American-run "court," which is widely expected to include a death sentence, the Al Basrah reported.