Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=4/17/2003

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=IRAQ/U-S BRIEFING (L-O)

NUMBER=2-302308

BYLINE=LARRY JAMES

DATELINE=AS SALIYAH, QATAR

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: The U-S military says it has captured Barzan Ibrahim Hassan al-Tikriti, the half-brother of ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. V-O-A's Larry James reports from Central Command headquarters in Qatar on the capture and military operations against forces still loyal to the deposed Iraqi regime.

TEXT: Central Command spokesman General Vincent Brooks says special forces backed by U-S Marines captured Barzan in Baghdad, in an operation carried out in the early morning hours Thursday.

/// BROOKS ACT ///

The capture demonstrates our commitment to relentlessly pursuing the scattered members of a fractured regime. Efforts related to other regime leaders are ongoing.

/// END ACT ///

General Brooks described Barzan as a senior adviser to Saddam Hussein, with extensive knowledge of the Iraqi regime. He had been listed as Number 38 on the coalition's list of 55 most-wanted fugitives.

The general also confirmed that American forces have bombed the principal bases of the main armed Iranian opposition group, the Mujaheddin e Khalq, which has had bases inside Iraq for more than a decade.

/// BROOKS 2nd ACT ///

We know that there's a presence of Mujaheddin e Khalq inside Iraq, and indeed, we have been targeting them for some time. There is work that is ongoing right now to try to secure some kind of agreement that would be a cease-fire and a capitulation.

/// END ACT ///

The group has been labeled a terrorist organization by the U-S State Department since 1997, but some members of Congress have described it as friendly, pro-democracy, anti-fundamentalist, and an effective force putting pressure on Iran.

The Central Command also announced further armed resistance. General Brooks said the newly arrived Fourth Infantry Division had what he termed a brief firefight in the vicinity of Taji airfield, north of Baghdad.

He said U-S troops killed a number of enemy soldiers, destroyed a number of Iraqi tanks and captured some 100 Iraqi soldiers. /// OPT /// He described a well-armed enemy force with multiple rocket-launcher systems, armored personnel carriers and a surface-to-air missile warehouse. /// END OPT ///

General Brooks also said there are pockets of lawlessness and violence in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. About 17 Iraqis have been reported killed by U-S forces in two separate incidents in the city this week. (SIGNED)

NEB/LDJ/ALW/TW/RAE