"In war it's not unusual for an enemy to establish positions here and there in a country as vast as Iraq," Ibrahim told a meeting of high-ranking officials from the ruling Baath Party, as quoted by the television.

"What will determine the outcome of the battle is the price the enemies pay in losses of men and equipment, not the fact that they control an inch here or there in Iraq," he said.

"Therefore our fighters must minimize losses in their ranks and inflict as heavy casualties as possible on the American and British forces of aggression."

Earlier Sunday US General Tommy Franks, who is commanding the war aimed at toppling Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, said that US-led forces had pushed to within 95 kilometers (60 miles) of Baghdad.

But Ibrahim, who is deputy chairman of Iraq's Revolution Command Council, warned the coalition would not be safe in its positions inside Iraq.

"Everywhere it installs itself it'll be surrounded by Iraqi guns, which don't miss their targets," he said.

The coalition "will be forced to withdraw its troops and flee to the empty desert where there lives no bird or tree," he said.

"This is being done because the Iraqis have made the struggle against the enemy a sacred duty in accordance with the call of their great leader Saddam Hussein."

WAR.WIRE