Saddam, whose last known public appearance was in January 2001, was shown in olive green military garb in a residential square, smiling broadly, accepting several kisses on his hand and holding a baby in his arms.

It was the first apparently fresh footage of Saddam in public since the United States and Britain launched the war March 20 aimed at toppling him.

A televised address by Saddam earlier Friday seemed to clear up doubts by US intelligence on whether he had survived the thousands of missiles and bombs that have targeted the most sensitive sites of his regime.

"What aired today is not conclusive" but suggests that it was done after the air strikes, because of his reference to the downing of an Apache helicopter on March 24, a US official said in Washington on condition of anonymity.

But US Central Command dismissed the televised scenes as "a pretty bad performance" that would have no impact on the US campaign.

"If this film was to receive an Academy Award, it would be for the worst performance by a crowd under duress," Jim Wilkinson, spokesman for the US Central Command in Qatar, told MSNBC television.

Major General Stanley McChrystal, vice director of operations of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, insisted that whatever the Iraqi leader's fate, "what we don't see is effective command and control at his level.

"We find it interesting that Saddam Hussein, if he is alive, feels a need to walk in the streets to prove that," McChrystal said.

The security-paranoid Saddam is also believed by foreign intelligence to have a number of doubles who fill in on public occasions for the Iraqi strongman, who turns 66 later this month.

Witnesses who declined to be identified told AFP they saw Saddam in Baghdad's Al-Mansour district where the street scene was filmed. The daylight footage was broadcast at 9:20 pm (1720 GMT).

Saddam is seen in the broadcast flanked by just a few bodyguards but packing a firearm in a holster. At one point, he kissed a baby girl while the crowd cheered.

"With our blood and our souls, we shall redeem you," chanted the crowd, and "Bush, Bush, listen well, we all love Saddam Hussein."

Some punched the air with their fists, while others hoisted assault rifles.

In Al-Aazamiya district, the second stop on his tour, Saddam climbed up on a metallic blue car to get a better view of the throngs of admirers, as traffic passed in the background.

Fans pushed his bodyguards away to embrace their leader, who was joined by his personal secretary, Abed Hmoud.

Earlier Friday, US troops said they had seized Baghdad's main airport and that had stripped Saddam's name off it.

Besides the heavy symbolism, the airport could be used as a potential base for US forces in a major battle to secure control of Baghdad.

In his address to the nation, Saddam assured that Iraq would be victorious -- a statement made in several other addresses attributed to him but read out by others on television.

"Hit them with the power of faith wherever they come near you, and resist, O brave inhabitants of Baghdad," Saddam reading solemnly from a prepared text.

"God willing, you will be victorious and they will be defeated," said Saddam.

Wearing a military uniform and donning a black beret, Saddam called again for a jihad, or holy war, against US and British forces.

"Our martyrs will go to heaven and their dead will go to hell," he said.

The last televised address by the Iraqi leader was March 24, although broadcasts have since also shown Saddam chairing meetings of advisers. Several of his messages have been read out by Information Minister Mohammed Said al-Sahhaf.

SPACE.WIRE