iraqi civilians now armed

DAMASCUS, March 22 (Reuters) - Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji

Sabri said on Sat*rday the government had armed the civilian

population to resist the U.S.-led invasion and that resistance

was continuing in southern Iraq.

"The Iraqi people will fight them from border to border. All

of the Iraqi population is armed. There are seven million

civilians with weapons apart from the armed forces," Sabri said

in an interview with Syrian television.

"The Zionist invaders thought that the Iraqi people,

government and troops would surrender, but they are mistaken,"

he said.

"We will defeat the invaders and teach them a lesson they

will never forget....God willing, we will turn the deserts of

Iraq into graveyards for the invaders."

Dressed in a red-and-white chequered headdress and flowing

dark blue robe, he told the interviewer civilians would defend

Baghdad and the cities, while the army fought in the

countryside.

He accused the United States and Britain of waging

psychological warfare with reports of victories in southern

Iraq. Iraqi forces aided by civilians were resisting, he said.

"They have taken civilians prisoners claiming that they are

soldiers, which they are not."

The interview was conducted at an undisclosed location

outside Baghdad. It was held in a white-walled office looking

out onto what appeared to be a large courtyard with a scattering

of soldiers.

"Today, on my way here from Baghdad, we heard the sound of

explosions. We looked to the sky and we saw an American plane

falling from the sky after being hit by an Iraqi rocket.

"It fell in front of us in the area of Abu Churayv," he

said. The town is about 20 km (12 miles) west of Baghdad.

He accused the U.S.-led forces of "cowardly tactics" in

their aerial attack of Baghdad, which he said had been hit by

1,000 rockets on Friday.

"The streets of Baghdad are busier today (Sat*rday) than

yesterday...we've got normal movement in the city. People are

going about their work as normal," he said.

"Throughout all Baghdad, all the civilians are armed. They

are the ones that protect the city," he said.