Print This Page Email This Page See Most Sent

• Iraqi Peace Could Be Harder Than War • War and Science Have Long, Uneasy History • Locking Out Household Mold With Steel

U.S. forces barreled into the heart of Baghdad with a dramatic show of force Monday and met pockets of fierce resistance. British officials said troops found a body in southern Iraq that they believed was the notorious Iraqi general known as "Chemical Ali."

Missiles screamed over the Iraqi capital just after dawn and thunderous explosions shook buildings as the 2nd Brigade of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division moved north into the city and seized a presidential palace. In southern Baghdad, Iraqi rockets struck a group of Army personnel carriers at the brigade's field headquarters, according to a military report. Two soldiers and two journalists one Spanish and one German were killed, and several others were wounded.

To the south, British troops gained control over much of Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, and were pressing into the old city where the last paramilitary fighters had retreated. Some Basra residents cheered the British, while others went on a looting rampage, streaming out of the Central Bank of Iraq and the bomb-damaged Sheraton Hotel with chairs, tables, carpets and other goods. Some civilians lashed out at Saddam loyalists, killing several militiamen and a policeman.

In a sign of growing confidence on the part of the coalition, the U.S. war commander, Gen. Tommy Franks, visited troops inside Iraq, including soldiers in the holy Shiite city of Najaf. Central Command Spokesman Capt. Frank Thorp said Franks made three stops in Iraq on Monday, but gave no details.

U.S. troops in Baghdad stormed Saddam's New Presidential Palace and set up a prisoner of war holding pen inside the elaborate compound on the west bank of the Tigris, a winding river that divides the city. The ruling Baath Party headquarters nearby was completely destroyed. Up the river at the Old Palace, the sound of explosions and heavy fire could be heard. In the center of the city, U.S. forces used explosives to destroy two statues of Saddam.

Iraqi snipers later fired on U.S. soldiers from rooms inside the Al-Rashid Hotel. U.S. tanks returned fire with their main guns and .50 caliber machine guns, according to military radio reports. Iraqi forces also took up positions in the University of Baghdad, across the river from the New Presidential Palace, and fired heavy machine guns. U.S. troops called in mortar fire and air support. The Tigris at this point is about 1,200 feet wide.

The drive into Baghdad was meant to send a strong signal about the coalition's ability to enter at will. The resistance encountered along the way was "worthy of respect," Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks said Monday, though the Iraqi fighters, "may be dying for a regime that does not have a future."

Iraq's command structure is so badly damaged, he said, there is only a small amount of communication between Saddam's remaining forces.

"What we don't see is an overarching structure that can order action from north to south and east to west, throughout the country. Only the coalition has that capability right now," Brooks said at Central Command. "And as each day passes, there's less and less that the regime can do to order action by their forces."

Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, standing on the roof of Baghdad's Palestine Hotel, denied his city had been invaded. Sirens could be heard as he spoke and clouds of dust blew past remnants of a sandstorm and smoke from oil fires set by the Iraqis to obscure targets.

"They are sick in their minds. They say they brought 65 tanks into center of city. I say to you this talk is not true," al-Sahhaf said. "There is no presence of American infidels in the city of Baghdad, at all."

Armed militiamen and Iraqi soldiers patrolled the street outside the Information Ministry. Most Iraqis stayed indoors, but some shops were open and public buses were running. Iraqi TV and state radio stayed on the air, broadcasting patriotic songs, religious sermons and archival footage of Saddam.

On the southern outskirts of Baghdad, two Marines were killed and two others were injured when their vehicle was struck by an artillery shell at a bridge over a canal. The 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines fought for the highway bridge that leads into the city Sunday, and were trying to cross it when they were hit Monday morning, Lt. Col. B.P. McCoy said.

The Marines quickly worked to repair the bridge while others crossed on foot to secure the opposite side of the canal, wary of booby traps that may have been set by Saddam's Fedayeen militia.

Troops everywhere have been warned of possible suicide attacks, including by bombers in ambulances. There were also reports from the field that Iraqis in civilian vehicles, possibly carrying bombs, had attempted to ram coalition tanks.

It's not clear how many Iraqis have been hurt or killed in Baghdad. The International Committee of the Red Cross said Sunday that hospitals in the city have stopped counting the number of people treated.

In the southern port city of Basra, British forces consider their biggest threat to be militia fighters still roaming the city. But with the suspected death of Iraqi Gen. Ali Hassan al-Majid, Iraqi fighters and Baath Party militants may be rudderless.

British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon said he had not yet confirmed that al-Majid had been killed, though the evidence was strong. Al-Majid, a cousin of Saddam, gained the nickname "Chemical Ali" for ordering a poison gas attack that killed thousands of Kurds in 1988. His home was targeted in coalition airstrikes over the weekend.

His death should show the people of southern Iraq "that the regime is finished," said Group Capt. Al Lockwood, spokesman for British forces.

Also to the south, U.S. forces took control of the center of the holy city of Karbala, the Army Times newspaper reported Sunday.

At Baghdad's airport, members of the 101st Airborne Division fought Iraqis in military uniform in a prolonged overnight battle, and fended off sporadic raids Monday. At least 150 Iraqi fighters were killed. The attacks followed the coalition's first use of the airport's runways. A C-130 transport plane landed there Sunday, foreshadowing a major resupply effort for U.S. troops, dependent until now on a tenuous line stretching 350 miles to Kuwait.

Also Monday, President Bush flew to Belfast for a meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair. The coalition partners will discuss peace efforts in Northern Ireland and the Middle East, but their summit is primarily meant to review war progress and to iron out differences about how Iraq will be rebuilt and governed when hostilities end.

Several opposition leaders have slipped into southern Iraq in recent days. Ahmad Chalabi, who has lobbied to head a transitional government, arrived in the southern town of Nasiriyah on Sunday with 700 supporters. A spokesman for his Iraqi National Congress said the group went in unarmed and will take orders from the U.S. military. The group's members may fight, work as translators and provide other aid, U.S. Defense Department officials said.

The Iran-based Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, the largest opposition group, also plans to return. It claims to have 10,000 fighters, and has rejected the idea of having the allies form a new government in Iraq.

photo credit and caption:

A U.S. tank guards one of Saddam Hussein's palaces in Baghdad, Monday, April 7, 2003. Coalition soldiers took over key buildings Monday, as gunfire and explosions thundered in many parts of the battered Iraqi capital. (AP Photo/John Moore)

Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.