A video of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein has been shared repeatedly on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram alongside a claim it shows him stating the U.S threatened to spread the novel coronavirus in Iraq during a meeting in the 1990s.
Below is a screenshot of the misleading post:, "The posts Hindi-language caption\xa0translates to English as: “In the 90s, the US threatened Iraq with spreading Coronavirus which was mentioned here by Saddam Hussein to his forces. It means Corona is an American virus, which the US is using to threaten China and Iran. But today this virus is threatening US allies Italy and now it has reached India. Stay alert, stay safe.”", Hussein was president of Iraq from 1979 until 2003. He was executed in December 2006 after being convicted of crimes against humanity., COVID-19 was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019. It has since killed more than 30,105\xa0people and infected 638,146\xa0others worldwide, according to data from the World Health Organization on March 30, 2020., The video was shared on Facebook here and here; on Twitter here and here; and on Instagram here and here\xa0with a similar claim., The claim is false., The audio in the misleading video has been manipulated to include purported remarks about the novel coronavirus., "The original footage was published\xa0here on the Associated Press\xa0YouTube channel on July 21, 2015.", “The Associated Press had nothing to do with the creation of this bogus video. AP decries this blatant misuse of its content and mistruths of any kind,” Lauren Easton, Global Director of Media Relations for the Associated Press told AFP by email., The video has been embedded below:, The post\s caption states in part: "Iraqi President Saddam Hussein struck a defiant note on Tuesday. He told senior military officials that "If God wills it and we have to run after the enemy, then we will do it". Saddam was speaking at a televised meeting in the capital, Baghdad. The meeting was attended by his son, Qusay, who is in charge of the elite Republican Guard corps.", The post’s caption\xa0provides an additional transcript of Hussein’s comments in the video. "If God wills it and we have to run after the enemy, then we will do it,” Hussein said according to the AP’s translation., The video was previously debunked\xa0here\xa0in Arabic\xa0by\xa0AFP., , , Copyright © AFP 2017-2020.  All rights reserved.  Users can access and consult this website and use the share features available for personal, private, and non-commercial purposes.  Any other use, in particular any reproduction, communication to the public or distribution of the content of this website, in whole or in part, for any other purpose and/or by any other means, without a specific licence agreement signed with AFP, is strictly prohibited.  The subject matter depicted or included via links within the Fact Checking content is provided to the extent necessary for correct understanding of the verification of the information concerned.  AFP has not obtained any rights from the authors or copyright owners of this third party content and shall incur no liability in this regard.  AFP and its logo are registered trademarks.
This video does not show Saddam Hussein making a reference to COVID-19 | AFP Fact Check