Invading troops close in on Iraqi capital

Snapshot of the war * Republican Guard units from four divisions head south from Baghdad to tackle US advance, US military says * US special forces enter palace near Baghdad overnight, also prevent destruction of some bridges, dam, military says * Iraq says US-led forces dropped cluster bombs on Baghdad Source: reuters

US surged forward yesterday to the outskirts of Baghdad, even venturing into one of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's presidential palaces. A US spokesman said Iraqi forces appeared on the verge of collapse.

Lead of the multi-pronged US assault force, yet to be slowed by Iraq's Republican Guard, were "in the vicinity" of Baghdad's Saddam International Airport, said Navy Captain Frank Thorp of US Central Command in Qatar. The airport is about 6km from the edge of Baghdad.

US had made big advances overnight, with Army troops closing on the capital from the southwest, crossing the Euphrates River and Marines approaching from the southeast in a long column along the Tigris River.

Paving way, special forces infiltrated some Iraqi command posts in the Baghdad area during the night, seeking strategic information, and also secured some bridges and dams to forestall possible sabotage, according to the US Central Command.

"We are getting closer and closer," said Thorp. "We will be in Baghdad within a matter of hours from when we decide to go."

Another Navy Lieutenant Mark Kitchens, said US forces "are beginning to see strong and credible signs that the Iraqi forces are being overwhelmed and will soon collapse."

Iraqi denials

However, Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf insisted US claims of being near the airport were untrue. "Their lies are endless," he told a news conference in Baghdad.

He added that Republican Guard forces had engaged US-led forces in the area south of the city of Kut and "taught them lessons, a catastrophe," inflicting heavy casualties and forcing encircled US forces to retreat.

"We buried a lot of them today," he said. He denied the battle successes claimed by the US. "All this is to cover their disappointment and inability," he said.

Members the US 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines, battled building to building with Iraqi fighters in Kut, a military town on the Tigris southeast of Baghdad. Three Marines were wounded, officials said.

To the west, thousands of Army vehicles were crossing the Euphrates and moving toward Baghdad after an unsuccessful attempt by Iraqi forces to defend a bridge at the town of Musayyib. Scores of blown-up Iraqi vehicles and dozens of bodies lined the roads as the US troops passed by.

US officials said two Republican Guard divisions were badly weakened by the approaching US forces on Wednesday. US forces incurred minimal losses in those battles, but a Republican Guard commander vowed that resistance would stiffen.

"God willing, we will teach the enemy lessons on the battlefield that it will not forget," said an officer identified by the Arab television network Al-Jazeera as commander of the Republican Guard's Baghdad Division.

The officer, whose name was not given, said 17 of his men were killed in the recent combat, but denied US claims that the division had been destroyed.

Jim Wilkinson, a Central Command spokesman, said US forces had received "reliable information" that the Iraqi regime may be planning to bomb some Shiite Muslim neighborhoods of Baghdad, then blame the US-led forces for the destruction.

Bleak prospects for baghdad defenders

A spokesman for the British segment of the invading forces, Group Captain Al Lockwood, suggested the Iraqis' prospects around Baghdad were bleak.

"They are in a position from which there is no escape," he said.

Iraq prove it retains surface-to-air firepower, shooting down a Black Hawk helicopter Wednesday near the city of Karbala, 80km south of Baghdad.

A Navy F/A-18C Hornet also was downed; military officials in Washington said the plane was hit by an Iraqi surface-to-air missile, but US Central Command in Qatar said yesterday the cause wasn't known.

A search was under way the pilot of the Hornet, which went down while on a bombing mission launched from the carrier USS Kitty Hawk. Seven of the soldiers aboard the Black Hawk were killed, while four were injured and rescued.

Lowering expectations

Despite the successful push toward Baghdad, senior US commanders sought to lower expectations of an imminent takeover of the capital.

"We are planning for a very difficult fight ahead in Baghdad," Major General Stanley McChrystal said Wednesday at the Pentagon. "We are not expecting to drive into Baghdad suddenly and seize it."

The US forces may soon face a choice between continuing their advance into the city of 5 million, with the possibility of costly street fighting, or waiting for reinforcements while giving Iraqis a chance to challenge Saddam's regime themselves.

"We hope that ultimately the regime will realize how ridiculous it is to continue with this effort, [and] surrender en masse," Lockwood said.

In northern Iraq, government forces retreated in several areas, and abandoned hundreds of bunkers and command centers east of the city of Mosul.

Thousands local residents streamed into the vacated positions, taking away metal sinks, chairs, pieces of wood and other items.