Los Angeles Times April 13, 2003
War Briefing
Baghdad
* Looting continues, including the Iraq National Museum's priceless collection of 170,000 antiquities and Islamic texts.; U.S. forces agree to begin joint patrols with local police.
* Gen. Amir Saadi, Saddam Hussein's science advisor, surrenders; he is the first of 52 wanted high-ranking officials of the regime taken into custody.
* Marines find more than 40 vests packed with C-4 explosives and ball-bearings in a school; at a nearby junior high school they discover hundreds of containers of weapons, including rocket-propelled grenades and surface-to-air missiles.
* A Marine is killed by a man carrying Syrian identification papers.
* Troops of the 3rd Infantry Division discover a vast underground bunker complex with pressurized rooms, weapons and chemical decontamination equipment.
* The first humanitarian flights arrive at Baghdad airport.
* A man surrendering to Marines claims to be the Hussein family's plastic surgeon; he says he knows where family has fled.
Mosul
* American troops enter the city in larger numbers, easing the looting and disorder. But some fires and sporadic gunfire continue.
Kirkuk
* American forces secure the airport and nearby oil fields. They move into the city and help halt looting. Kurdish fighters say they will leave the city within a day.
Tikrit
* American bombers attack positions in Hussein's hometown. The first Marines to approach the city encounter stiff resistance.
Western Iraq
* U.S. troops stop a bus carrying 59 men, $630,000 in $100 bills and a letter offering rewards for killing Americans.
* U.S. Special Forces control the Asad airfield, where they find 15 undamaged fighter aircraft.
* Fierce fighting in Al Qaim continues, leading to speculation that it may be the location of illegal weapons.
Al Kut
* City surrenders without a shot; Marines greeted as heroes.
Basra
* British forces find 250 rocket launchers and other weapons.
* Looting subsides; British hope to begin joint patrols with local police within a day or two.
Southern Iraq
* Elements of the 4th Infantry Division, the Army's most technically advanced force, begin moving north from Kuwait.
Sources: Associated Press; Reuters; The Guardian; CIA; Department of Defense; General Dynamics Land Systems, U.S. Army, Global Security.org
Researched by Times graphics reporters Tom Reinken and Rebecca Perry
GRAPHIC: GRAPHIC: War briefing CREDIT: VICTOR KOTOWITZ and REBECCA PERRY Los Angeles Times
Copyright © 2003, The Times Mirror Company; Los Angeles Times
