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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A CIA analysis of Saddam Hussein's speech has found it was likely his voice, but it was unclear when the tape was made and the fate of the Iraqi leader remained unclear after a missile strike on his residence, U.S. officials said on Friday.

"The preponderance of evidence points to the fact that it was probably Saddam on the tape, but what you cannot determine from it is when the tape was recorded," a U.S. intelligence official told Reuters.

So it was unclear whether Saddam was alive or not at the time the tape was broadcast following the U.S. military's bombing of a residence on the outskirts of Baghdad late Wednesday evening (early Thursday Baghdad time).

In Baghdad, Iraqi Information Minister Saeed al-Sahaf told a news conference that Saddam has survived the U.S. air raids and was safe.

Saddam and his two sons Qusay and Uday were believed to have been inside the residence at the time of the strikes, but their fate remained unclear, a U.S. official said.

"We believe it is most likely that he and the boys were somewhere in the compound," the official said on condition of anonymity.

"Were they killed? We don't know. Were they wounded? We don't know. Are they alive? We don't know," he said.

U.S. officials say there were casualties from the strike, but they do not know how many or their identities.

"You don't drop 40 cruise missiles and not hurt somebody," the official said. "We have a strong belief that there were casualties but I can't tell you what their names were."

OXYGEN MASK

ABC News reported that eye-witnesses saw Saddam Hussein being taken out of a bombed building on a hospital gurney and with an oxygen mask on his face.

U.S. intelligence has found no signs that Saddam has communicated with his troops, adding to the uncertainty about the fate of the Iraqi leader, officials said.

The first strikes launched 90 minutes after President Bush's 48-hour deadline to Saddam and his sons to leave Baghdad expired at 8 p.m. Wednesday (0100 GMT Thursday) were carried out by stealth aircraft and cruise missiles and aimed at killing senior Iraqi leaders.

Saddam, dressed in a military uniform, appeared on state television three hours after the raid, and made a speech saying that Bush had committed a crime against humanity.

The CIA analysis determined the speech was taped but there was nothing to suggest when it might have been made.

"There was no way of knowing when it was taped. It was not broadcast live. It could have been two minutes before he aired it, or it could have been two days," the intelligence official said.

A tired-looking Saddam read from a prepared text, wearing heavy black-framed spectacles, something he rarely does in public, which had led to some speculation about whether it in fact was the Iraqi leader.

The United States accuses Saddam of having chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs and has launched a war against Iraq to disarm it and change the leadership regime.

Baghdad says it has no such weapons programs.

This is the first war fought by the United States since a national security strategy adopted last year asserted Washington may launch pre-emptive strikes on countries deemed to be a threat.