"The small family of our leader Saddam Hussein is part of the extended family that is the Iraqi people and as Saddam Hussein has tied his fate to the fate of his people ... the fate of his family cannot be separated from that of the extended family," a spokesman for the president's office said, quoted by state television.

He said Saddam's family and the Iraqi people "have a common destiny -- to be rewarded with a decisive victory" in the war against the United States and Britain.

The denial came after US Defence Department spokeswoman Victoria Clarke said: "We have seen evidence that family members are fleeing the country, or trying to flee the country."

The Iraqi statement declared this a "fabrication," adding: "We realise the great people of Iraq know how leader Saddam Hussein thinks and behaves."

Clarke said US intelligence had seen "neither hide nor hair" of Saddam or his two sons since bombing raids on his compound on the first day of the war on March 20.

They have however appeared on Iraqi state television and ministers have denied reports they have been killed or wounded.

SPACE.WIRE