US Holds 3,500 Iraqi POWs: Pentagon

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, March 26, 2003

US Holds 3,500 Iraqi POWs: Pentagon

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Tuesday that the US-led coalition forces have so far captured 3,500 Iraqi prisoners of war and disbanded several thousands more.

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US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Tuesday that the US-led coalition forces have so far captured 3,500 Iraqi prisoners of war and disbanded several thousands more.

"Coalition forces are closing in on Baghdad and will not stop until that regime has been driven from power. Their defeat is certain. All that is unclear is the number of days or weeks it will take," Rumsfeld at a regular Pentagon news briefing.

He said the coalition forces have confronted some resistance in Iraq but there is little impact on the overall progress on the battlefields.

"The resistance that's being encountered was expected. It has not affected coalition progress," he said.

Aware of criticism over slower-than-expected progress, the minister described the US military's war plans as "brilliant," saying that they have been agreed by himself, top generals and President George W. Bush.

"It is a good plan that in four and a half or five days has moved ground forces to within a short distance of Baghdad and forces increased in the country every minute and every hour of every day," he said.

"It is a brilliant plan and we have been at it now for less than a week and we are just about to Baghdad," Rumsfeld added.

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