Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE= 4/9/03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE= PENTAGON / IRAQ (S-ONLY)

NUMBER=2-302002

BYLINE= ALEX BELIDA

DATELINE= PENTAGON

INTRO: The Pentagon says the regime of Saddam Hussein is in disarray but cautions that more fighting is likely, particularly in northern Iraq. V-O-A Defense Correspondent Alex Belida reports on the forces still posing a potential threat to U-S led coalition troops.

TEXT: Defense officials say Saddam Hussein's grip on power in Iraq is being broken and the latest symbol is the apparent loss of his regime's control over Baghdad.

But the Pentagon is cautioning that the conflict is not over and says coalition troops are now focusing their attention on Tikrit and other towns in the north where loyalist forces are holding out.

General Richard Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the U-S military, says those forces include tens of thousands of regular Iraqi army soldiers.

///MYERS ACTUALITY///

There are about 10-plus regular army divisions left in the north, and perhaps as much as one brigade of a Republican Guards division up there, an infantry division, that we think is still left in the north.

///END ACTUALITY///

General Myers says the Iraqi troops in the North have been subjected to repeated bombing. In addition, coalition Special Operations forces are actively engaging Iraqi units in both Tikrit and Mosul. (Signed)

NEB/BEL/MAR