A new audio tape purportedly from ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein has said his sons Uday and Qusay died as martyrs for Iraq. "I mourn to you the deaths of Uday and Qusay and those who struggled with them. You are the honour of this nation," he said on the tape, broadcast by al-Arabiya satellite television. The voice praised a "valiant battle with the enemy lasting six hours" and added: "America will be defeated." It was the fifth recording attributed to Saddam Hussein since Baghdad fell to US-led troops on 9 April. If confirmed to be authentic, it will end lingering doubts among some Iraqis about his sons' deaths. US intelligence officials said earlier this week that a previous tape aired by al-Arabiya TV was likely to be genuine. Washington says the net is closing in on Saddam Hussein following the deaths of his sons. In a dawn raid on Tuesday, US forces rounded up a number of people in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, including a man they said was a bodyguard and long-time associate of the ousted leader. US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said on Monday that troops carrying out such raids in Iraq "were just hours behind Saddam Hussein". Armitage told that although the US was keen to capture the ousted leader alive, if such an action posed a risk to US troops, they would kill him without hesitation. On Tuesday, rumours that Saddam Hussein had been captured sparked a surge in US stocks. The Pentagon has said it has no information to confirm them. "The short answer is I have no information on that. None," Reuters news agency quoted Lieutenant General Norton Schwartz as saying, in response to a reporter's question. **Jihad hopes*** In the latest recording, the voice purporting to be that of Saddam Hussein says that even if he had 100 children other than Uday and Qusay, he would offer them in the same way. It calls for further Iraqi resistance - jihad - and says that the youth of the Arab world will follow his sons in fighting the Americans. The BBC's Heba Saleh in Cairo says the former Iraqi leader may be hoping his broadcasts will strengthen the resolve of the Baath loyalists, believed by the US to be behind a spate of attacks on American soldiers. But she says the messages are unlikely to have an impact outside Iraq. She says that although most Arabs are delighted with what they consider to be the Iraqi resistance, they do not believe people are fighting for the ousted dictator. Uday and Qusay were killed when US forces raided a house in the northern city of Mosul on 22 July. The US took the unprecedented step of showing their pictures and allowed the media to film their bodies, in an effort to quash Iraqi doubts about their identity. The release of the photos and footage caused much debate in Washington and on Arabic television. The US does not normally publish pictures of dead combatants and raised strong objections when dead US troops were shown on the Arabic Al-Jazeera TV channel during the war. **PHOTO CAPTION*** A grab taken from Dubai-based Al-Arabiya TV. A new recording claims to be Saddam mourning his sons Uday and Qusay. (AFP/AL-ARABIYA)