Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=4/2/2003

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=IRAQ/U-S/REPUBLICAN GUARD (S-ONLY)

NUMBER=2-301660

BYLINE=ROGER WILKISON

DATELINE=DOHA

CONTENT=

INTRO: U-S forces say they have destroyed a key division of Iraq's Republican Guard and that two others engaged in heavy fighting with U-S troops are in trouble. V-O-A's Roger Wilkison reports the claim comes as U-S forces moved closer to Baghdad and battled Republican Guard units defending the city on two fronts.

TEXT: A senior U-S Central Command official, Brigadier General Vince Brooks, says U-S forces have destroyed the Republican Guard's Baghdad division near the town of Kut, 170 kilometers southeast of the Iraqi capital.

/// BROOKS ACT ///

The Baghdad Division has been destroyed.

/// END ACT ///

General Brooks, briefing reporters at Central Command headquarters in Qatar, says U-S forces are also fighting two other elite Republican Guard units, the Medina and Nebuchadnezzar divisions, around the town of Karbala, 80 kilometers southwest of Baghdad.

/// BROOKS 2nd ACT ///

First, they're in trouble. Two, they're under serious attack right now, and those attacks will continue until we're finished with the task at hand.

/// END ACT ///

The eroding of Republican Guard strength, believed already debilitated by air and artillery attacks, is a key objective of the U-S-led coalition as its drive toward Baghdad goes into high gear. (Signed)

NEB/RW/ALW/FC/KBK