Saddam faces revolt

SADDAM HUSSEIN’S regime was reported to be under attack from his own people and from coalition forces last night as bombs rained down on Baghdad, and the population of Basra staged an uprising.

The reported uprising in Iraq's second city, Basra, could prove crucial in the battle for control of Southern Iraq. While British military officials confirmed the uprising, Iraqi spokepersons dismissed the reports as coalition propaganda.

Major General Peter Wall, British Chief of Staff at Allied Central Command in Qatar, last night said that there appeared to be an uprising in Basra. He said it seemed to be in its "infancy" and that British troops were "keen to exploit its potential".

However, Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed al-Sahhaf said: "The situation is stable.

"Resistance is continuing and we are teaching them more lessons. This announcement [of an uprising]... stems from a feeling of frustration," he told Qatar-based al-Jazeera television.

The Basra reports, if true, will provide a vital fillip to British forces in southern Iraq, after they suffered yet more fatalities from friendly fire last night.

Two servicemen died after being shot at by their own troops near Basra.

Until now, there has been no evidence of any support for British and American forces inside Basra where around 1,000 die-hard Saddam Hussein supporters were believed to be based.

The battle for Basra, which is home to about 1.5 million, is crucial if a humanitarian crisis is to be avoided. The United Nations has warned some 100,000 children are at risk of disease as fighting there has continued for four days, disrupting supplies of drinking water.

With food dwindling for millions of Iraqis, a UN aid agency will make the biggest single request for cash in its history more than one billion dollars to help feed the war-stricken nation for about six months.

In southern Iraq, US Marines finally punched past Iraqi resistance to cross the Euphrates river at Nassiriya.

But in the North, the US is facing a diplomatic battle with Turkey, which announced yesterday that it would be moving 12 miles into Northern Iraq for humanitarian reasons.

There are fears that Turkey, which has the second largest armed forces in NATO, may have military aspirations for Northern Iraqi territories, including Mosul and the oil-rich Kirkuk.

Meanwhile, the citizens of Baghdad faced their sixth night of bombing last night.

Warplanes hammered the elite Republican Guards defending Baghdad as US armoured columns, slowed by blinding sandstorms, closed in for the decisive ground battle for the Iraqi capital.

A series of explosions starting at 11:15pm (2015 Irish time) shook the city. Power was out in some places, and both state and Al-Shabab television were off the air.

Throughout the day, explosions to the south had grown louder and more frequent. The Medina Division of Republican Guards stands between Baghdad and US armoured columns that have thrust to the Kerbala area, 95 km (60 miles) south of the capital.

Warplanes could be heard but not seen through dust storms and smoke from blazing oil-trenches around Baghdad. More and bigger trenches were being dug around the Iraqi capital, including at least one in the courtyard of the Iraq Museum, home to priceless antiquities, some dating back to 7,000 years BC.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Monday that the conflict with the Medina division would be the most critical battle in the war.

Meanwhile, a senior Pentagon source said he could not confirm US media reports that Iraqi leaders had drawn a "red line" around Baghdad within which Republican Guards had been authorised to use chemical weapons. Iraq denies it has such weapons.

About 500 Iraqi fighters have been killed in the last two days by the US Army's 3rd Infantry Division's tanks and mechanised units. US Secretary of Defence Rumsfeld said coalition forces have taken over 3,500 Iraqi prisoners.