Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE= 3/26/2003

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=IRAQ / BRIEFING (L)

NUMBER=2-301346

BYLINE=ROGER WILKISON

DATELINE= DOHA

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Coalition forces have found arms and three-thousand chemical suits at a hospital used as a paramilitary headquarters near the Iraqi town of Nasiriyah. The report is raising concerns at coalition headquarters that Iraq may be planning to use chemical weapons as it seeks to stop an allied advance toward Baghdad. V-O-A's Roger Wilkison reports from Qatar.

TEXT: Army Brigadier General Vince Brooks, briefing reporters at coalition headquarters, said U-S Marines gained control of a hospital that was being used by Iraqi paramilitaries.

/// BROOKS ACT ONE ///

Within the hospital there were 200-weapons, Iraqi military uniforms, one tank, three-thousand chemical protection suits and nerve agent antidote injectors.

/// END ACT ///

General Brooks says finding such equipment is a sign that the Iraqis are still committed to using weapons of mass destruction.

/// BROOKS ACT TWO ///

We remain convinced this regime has not only the means, but also the will to use weapons of mass destruction. What we found last night inside that hospital reinforces our concern in that regard. The danger does increase, we believe, as we approach Baghdad, but we are well prepared to deal with the potential use of chemical weapons.

/// END ACT ///

General Brooks says U-S forces are equipped with both detection and protection gear and that U-S troops have been inoculated against biological agents such as anthrax and smallpox.

The general says the Marines captured 170 Iraqi irregulars who were using the hospital as a staging area for attacks on U-S forces.

As U-S forces move towards Baghdad, Iraqi forces have reverted to guerrilla warfare tactics. And coalition officers say says many are wearing civilian clothes, or using civilians to screen themselves from allied forces.

/// BROOKS ACT THREE ///

We have seen irregulars marching people in the street in front of them as they fire on coalition forces. We have seen buses following tank columns that empty out and have people engaging in combat.

/// END ACT ///

Coalition officers say buses and trucks packed with explosives have tried on several occasions to ram advancing U-S armored units and succeeded in putting two tanks out of operation.

Iraq says 15-people were killed and 30 wounded when a bomb or missile landed in a residential area of Baghdad. General Brooks says U-S forces do not know, at this point, whether U-S aircraft made a targeting mistake. He said U-S forces are investigating the incident.

/// BROOKS ACT FOUR ///

When we have something like that, we will go back and examine flight paths, weapons releases and what the circumstances were and try to determine whether or not we had an impact on something like that. Right now, we simply do not know.

/// END ACT ///

General Brooks also says the coalition is holding more than four-thousand Iraqi prisoners of war. (SIGNED)

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