Izzat Ibrahim Al-Duri.

The TV channel of Iraq’s former ruling Baath party on Friday released an audio recording purportedly of the elusive Saddam Hussein deputy some officials said had been killed last month.

Several officials and leaders of Shiite militia groups had claimed to have killed Izzat Ibrahim Al-Duri more than a month ago near Tikrit.

Pictures had emerged of the body of a red-haired man bearing some resemblance to Saddam’s deputy, who is the most senior former regime member believed to still be at large.

The authorities however have since been unable to positively identify the body as Duri’s, arguing that they lacked DNA samples for comparison.

Duri clearly refers in the recording to events that have happened since rumors of his alleged death surfaced on April 17, notably the deployment of Shiite paramilitary groups in the Nukhayb region earlier this month.

“I affirm in this gathering that what’s happening today in our country is a direct and a comprehensive Persian occupation, under the obnoxious cover of sectarianism,” he said.

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