US Marines under Attack in Baghdad, One Killed

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, April 10, 2003

US Marines under Attack in Baghdad, One Killed

US Marines on Thursday came under heavy fire from the Iraqi forces along the northern banks of the Tigris river in Baghdad, with one marine killed and 13 others injured.

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US Marines came under heavy fire from the Iraqi forces on Thursday along the northern banks of the Tigris river in Baghdad. Reports say the US troops were under heavy attack from Iraqi troops hiding in buildings, in cars, on roofs or under bridges. One US Marine soldiers was killed and at least 13 others injured.

US Vice President Dick Cheney has said that officials from the United States and representatives of groups from all over Iraq will meet in southern Iraq on Saturday to begin planning for an interim Iraqi government.

Cheney made the announcement Wednesday at a meeting of US newspaper editors in New Orleans, Louisiana. He said the meeting would be held near Nassiriyah in southern Iraq.

Cheney also said that there may be hard fighting in Iraq because forces loyal to Saddam Hussein are still in control in northern Iraq. But he said that while pockets of Saddam's security forces may remain in Baghdad, they appear to be far less effective at putting up any resistance.

In New York, Iraq's UN ambassador has said that "the game is over". He believes that Saddam Hussein's regime has already collapsed.

Mohammed Al-Douri made the remark Wednesday. He says he has no relationship with Saddam and he has no communication with Iraq. But he also expresses his hope that peace will be prevalent in Iraq.

Al-Douri's comments are the first admission by an Iraqi official that coalition forces have overwhelmed Iraqi troops after a three-week campaign. There has been no sign of Saddam Hussein, his information minister or any other high profile figures from the regime to at least make statements at this stage.

Saddam's fate remains a mystery after Monday's B-1 bomber strike on a Baghdad building where US officials suspected he was meeting with senior aides, but US officials said that it is obvious his regime has lost control of the country.

A key Iraqi opposition leader says he has information that Saddam Hussein survived the air strike and escaped from Baghdad with at least one of his sons.

Iraq's official radio and television have fallen silent since Tuesday. Nothing has been heard from Saddam since a US bomber struck a residential area believed to be frequented by the Iraqi president and his two sons.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has denied reports that Saddam Hussein has taken refuge at the Russian embassy in Baghdad.

Meanwhile a giant statue of Saddam Hussein in central Baghdad was pulled to the ground in front of a local crowd bringing with it cheers of elation.

Earlier US tanks and armored personnel carriers entered the central square of Baghdad without any resistance.

Reports say US tanks rolled into the streets of the capital to expand their control of the city. The troops have been welcomed by hundreds of Iraqi people.

Thousands of US troops have moved toward the center overnight from the west, northeast and south, meeting little resistance.

The military says the battle for Baghdad has switched from attacks on military and "regime" targets to a phase of close fighting with local pockets of resistance.

Meanwhile, public order seems to have completely disappeared from the streets of Baghdad, which has seen widespread looting by mobs.

Sources say people have ransacked government institutions and ministry offices, as well as the headquarters of the Arab Baath Socialist Party. There are no policemen or security officers in the streets.

US Central Command spokesman Vincent Brooks said that Saddam Hussein's government is no longer in control of Baghdad:

"Baghdad has been added to the places where the regime is no longer in control."

But Us Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the war is not over.

"We had a good day today. However, it is not over. There's going to be a lot of difficult work left, dangerous work, and there will be additional fights."

In the north, anti-Saddam Kurdish leaders have claimed their biggest gain yet, capturing a heavily-defended mountain that is the last obstacle protecting the city of Mosul. More US tanks and armed forces have been parachuted into the northern area.

In Iraq's second largest city of Basra in the south, residents are complaining of a power vacuum as armed men roamed the streets, looting and pillaging. The city fell to British troops early this week. The British army says it has full control of Basra and is ready to appoint a tribal chief to lead the local administration.

To prevent Saddam Hussein from running northward to his hometown of Tikrit, US Special Forces are keeping a close watch in the northern part of the country, especially on the road leading to Tikrit.

Meanwhile, the US Fourth Infantry Division is also heading into Iraq from Kuwait, aiming to seize Tikrit before the coalition forces take full control of Baghdad.

The Pentagon claims "air supremacy" over all of Iraq, saying fighter planes can now fly safely anywhere across the country. It says the US death toll has now reached 96, while the British side reports 30 dead. Iraq has given no figures for its military losses.

In Washington, US President George W. Bush says he is pleased with the coalition forces' progress in Iraq but he warns of "great danger" that could still lie ahead.

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