Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=3/21/2003

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=BRITAIN / IRAQ (L-2ND-UPDATE)

NUMBER=2-301091

BYLINE=MICHAEL DRUDGE

DATELINE=LONDON

CONTENT=

/// UPDATES CR 2-301068 ///

INTRO: Britain's military chief says coalition forces have seized Iraq's key southern oil facilities, apparently averting what could have been a major ecological disaster. V-O-A's Michael Drudge has the latest from London.

TEXT: British military chief of staff, Admiral Michael Boyce, says there has been good progress so far in the war in Iraq, especially in the southern oil fields. He says Iraq has not set nearly as many wells ablaze as officials had first believed.

/// BOYCE ACT ///

The latest information I've had is that only seven wellheads have been fired, as opposed to the some 30 or so we suspected might have been on fire today. And of course that is only seven out of the many hundreds that make up the oilfields.

/// END ACT ///

Admiral Boyce also told a London news conference that U-S Marines had overwhelmed the key southern city of Umm Qasr, and hundreds of Iraqi troops had been surrendering.

He said all key components of the southern oilfields are now under coalition control, and civilian experts will be brought in in a day or two to extinguish the wells that are on fire.

Not all the battlefield news was good, however. Britain is mourning the deaths of eight Royal Marines killed along with four American servicemen in the crash of a U-S helicopter in Kuwait. Officials say the crash was an accident.

Prime Minister Tony Blair paid tribute to the men and their heroism.

///BLAIR ACT///

These were brave men who in order to make us safer and more secure knew the risks, faced the risks and had the courage to serve their country and the wider world. We owe them an immense debt of gratitude and our thoughts and prayers are with their families.

/// END ACT ///

Mr. Blair said as the invasion proceeds, cracks are emerging in the government of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, but he cautioned against expectations of a quick victory.

/// 2ND BLAIR ACT ///

There are signs of continuing Iraqi desertions and disagreement and division at all levels of the regime. But I should warn that our forces will face resistance and that the campaign necessarily will not achieve all its objectives overnight. It's important to emphasize that.

/// END ACT ///

He spoke from a European Union summit in Brussels, where there were deep divisions over the wisdom of the war. He urged his European colleagues to help fund humanitarian relief in Iraq when and if Saddam Hussein is toppled. (Signed).

NEB/MWD/KL/KBK