1:09am UK, Thursday March 20, 2003

Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz appeared on live TV talking to reporters in Baghdad to scotch rumours he had defected or been shot trying to flee the capital.

"I decided to meet you to affirm that we are ready to fight," Aziz told the press pack.

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Aziz live on Iraqi TV

Aziz told reporters that US demands for Saddam Hussein to leave the country were "impossible of course."

Therumours which affected oil prices in New York first surfaced in the House of Commons in London.

Junior Foreign Office minister Mike O'Brien said the rumours came from a Bulgarian source.

Labour MP Ann Clwyd said: "We do have reports that are as yet unconfirmed that Tariq Aziz has defected to Northern Iraq to Kurdish Democratic Party territory.

"It would be very useful to have a statement if that is confirmed."

Mr O'Brien said: "We too have heard these rumours and we are seeking confirmation, or not, of them."

Baghdad and Washington both announced the rumours were untrue in a rare moment of agreement between the two sides.

A senior Kurdish source also scoffed at the rumour that Aziz was being held by Kurdish forces.

Rumours of the imprisonment, flight or death of members of Saddam Hussein's administration are common, but rarely turn out to be true.