Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=04/08/03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=IRAQ WRAP - 3rd UPDATE (L-ONLY)

NUMBER=2-301952(CQ)

BYLINE=STEPHANIE HO

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

CONTENT=

///UPDATES 2-301948 NEW THRU-OUT; NEXT UPDATE BY 4:30 AM EDT Wednesday ///

VOICED AT:

/// Re-running w/change from "today" to "Tuesday" in first line of Text///

INTRO: U-S forces seized a key military airport in southern Baghdad Tuesday, while facing stiff resistance in other parts of the Iraqi capital. Meanwhile, U-S military officials say they do not know if Saddam Hussein was killed in a bombing attack Monday that targeted the Iraqi leadership. V-O-A's Stephanie Ho reports from Washington.

TEXT: U-S Army units Tuesday for the first time pushed into Baghdad from the north. In southern Baghdad, U-S forces seized the Rashid military base, giving them control of two of the capital's three airports.

Iraqi soldiers and paramilitaries put up intense resistance to U-S troops, and explosions from U-S tanks and warplanes rattled central Baghdad Tuesday night. Targets included Baath Party headquarters, government buildings and Republican Guard headquarters.

Iraqi officials remained defiant, saying their forces will never surrender.

U-S officials could not confirm whether four so-called "bunker buster" bombs dropped on a residential neighborhood in Baghdad Monday were successful in killing Saddam Hussein or either of his two sons. But U-S Major General Stanley McChrystal characterized the airstrike as very effective.

/// McCHRYSTAL ACT ///

What we have for battle damage assessment right now is essentially a hole in the ground, a site of destruction where we wanted it to be, where we believed high value targets were. Where intelligence led us to believe that. We do not have hard battle damage assessment on exactly what individual or individuals were on site.

/// END ACT ///

Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke added that there appears to be confusion among the Iraqi leadership.

/// 1st CLARKE ACT ///

There are still some orders being given by somebody. They don't seem to be the best of orders. They don't seem to be very well coordinated.

/// END ACT ///

Meanwhile President Bush repeated his determination to remove the Iraqi leader.

/// BUSH ACT ///

Saddam Hussein will be gone. It might have been yesterday (Monday). I don't know. But he'll be gone.

/// END ACT ///

Mr. Bush was in Northern Ireland to discuss post-war Iraq and the role of the United Nations, with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

/// BLAIR ACT ///

We are, of course, agreed, as we say in our Joint Statement, that there will be a vital role for the United Nations in the reconstruction of Iraq, but the key is that Iraq in the end should be governed by the Iraqi people.

/// END ACT ///

Meanwhile, Iraqi opposition groups are set to meet in southern Iraq on Saturday to discuss post-war governance of the country.

/// OPT /// Speaking in London, Iraq's would-be king, Sharif Ali Bin Hussein, of the Monarchist Constitutional Movement, said Iraqis do not need outside help to form a new government.

/// OPT HUSSEIN ACT ///

We are not a failed state. We are not a state in civil war. We are just a population that has been ruled by a dictatorship. Once that leadership of that dictatorship is removed from power, authority should be transferred to the Iraqi people as quickly as possible.

/// END ACT, END OPT ///

In other news, U-S military strikes killed three foreign journalists in Baghdad -- including a reporter for the Arab satellite television network al-Jazeera.

/// OPT /// Al-Jazeera spokesman Gihad Ballout said the station is keeping an open mind as to why coalition forces bombed the Baghdad offices.

/// OPT BALLOUT ACT ///

We are not pointing the finger, as we speak now, out of a sense of objectivity. We would like to see the result of the investigation that I hope is being carried out by relevant authorities, and our own investigation, before we really commit ourselves to a decision.

/// END ACT, END OPT ///

Pentagon spokeswoman Clarke expressed regret for the loss of life.

/// 2nd CLARKE ACT ///

I personally have probably had 300 individual conversations with news operations, bureau chiefs and some individual correspondents. And the essence of everyone of those is, "war is a dangerous, dangerous business, and you're not safe when you're in a war zone."

/// END ACT ///

The Pentagon says the U-S tank was responding to sniper fire and was not targeting journalists. (SIGNED)

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