* Huge explosion and anti-aircraft fire rock central
Baghdad, U.S. says almost 40 "smart bombs" dropped overnight on
a military store in the city
* U.S. forces advance to within 30 km (19 miles) of southern
edge of Baghdad, military says
* Iraqi TV shows Saddam laughing with ministers
* U.S. says hits Medina and Baghdad divisions of Republican
Guard; Iraq denies Baghdad division near Kut destroyed
* U.S. air raid damages Baghdad maternity hospital, hits
trade fair complex; several killed and at least 25 wounded,
hospital sources and witnesses say

QUOTES
Saddam in a letter to his niece, quoted by Iraqi state
television: "Damn them (the U.S.-led invaders), and by God,
there will be thousands of soldiers fighting for what is right,
virtue and faith in defence of the land of prophets and holy
places, of belief and devotion."

EVENTS (TIMES IN GMT)

Thursday -
* Powell meets EU officials and NATO foreign ministers in
Brussels, joint news conference with NATO Secretary-General
George Robertson at 1430

Friday -
* Foreign ministers of France, Germany and Russia expected
to meet in Paris to discuss Iraq crisis
* Blix takes part in Stockholm seminar on world after war in
Iraq

CASUALTIES
* U.S. - 53 killed, 11 missing
* Britain - 27 killed
* Iraqi military - no confirmed figures
* Iraqi civilians (Iraqi estimates) - at least 677 killed,
5,062 injured

MILITARY ACTION
BAGHDAD: U.S. drop "smart bombs" on targets in Baghdad and
on control centre southwest of the city.
U.S. troops advance towards Baghdad on two fronts against
Republican Guard to within 30 km (19 miles) of southern edge of
capital
U.S. warplanes damage Red Crescent maternity hospital, hit
city's trade fair complex in morning bombing, witnesses say
several people killed
B-52s drop cluster bombs on Iraqi tank column guarding city;
first time such bombs have been used
CENTRAL IRAQ: U.S. says American troops destroy the Baghdad
division of Republican Guard near Kut, southeast of capital;
Iraq denies that U.S. Marines secured a key bridge over Tigris
Units with U.S. 3rd Infantry cross Euphrates north of
Kerbala, secure territory on east bank
Euphrates dam seized by U.S. troops northwest of Baghdad
SOUTHERN IRAQ: U.S. Marines capture bridge on Tigris for key
crossing
NORTHERN IRAQ: U.S. planes bomb troops in Kurdish-held
northern Iraq, forcing them to retreat in several areas;
Turkish-registered trucks with U.S. escort head towards Iraqi
front line

April 2 - U.S. forces
thrust toward Baghdad on Wednesday, smashing two of Iraq's
elite Republican Guard divisions, and the Pentagon said they
were now "threatening the core of the regime" of President
Saddam Hussein.
Backed by fearsome air power, U.S. armored forces moved on
the Iraqi capital from two directions. U.S. forces also seized
a dam over the Euphrates River northwest of Baghdad.
"The dagger is clearly pointed at the heart of the Baghdad
regime," U.S. Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks said.
Maj. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, vice director for operations
for the U.S. military's Joint Staff, said two of the six
Republican Guard divisions that had been guarding the
approaches to Baghdad had effectively ceased to exist as viable
military forces after days of pulverizing air strikes preceding
the ground attack.
"I would say that the Medina and Baghdad divisions are no
longer credible forces," McChrystal said. "It's clearly
threatening Baghdad and threatening the core of the regime."
Although the Pentagon officially said U.S. troops were now
30 miles (48 km) from Baghdad, a military source told a Reuters
correspondent with the 3rd Infantry that vanguard units were 10
miles (16 km) closer to the southern edges of the capital of
some 5 million people.
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld warned that
difficult fighting lay ahead as U.S. forces attempted to break
into the capital.
A huge explosion rocked central Baghdad early on Thursday
and blasts shook the south of the city.
U.S. war headquarters in Qatar said U.S.-led forces dropped
almost 40 "smart bombs" overnight on a military storage
facility in the Karkh district of Baghdad.

PREPARING FOR URBAN WARFARE
City defenders have been preparing for urban warfare.
Pick-up trucks equipped with machine guns and anti-aircraft
guns are dotted across the city.
U.S. forces would like to avoid street fighting in Baghdad,
which might take a heavy toll in military and civilian
casualties. But planners believe this prospect is increasingly
likely as Saddam prepares to stage his last stand in the city.
McChrystal said the United States had fired 700 cruise
missiles, which cost over $1 million each, and more than 10,000
precision-guided bombs since the war began two weeks ago.
In the north, U.S. planes bombed Iraqi troops, forcing them
to retreat in several areas in such a hurry that they abandoned
valuable supplies of ammunition and injectors containing the
nerve gas antidote atropine. An Iranian cameraman working for
the BBC tripped a mine in the area and was killed.
On the approaches to Baghdad, U.S. Marines seized a vital
bridge over the Tigris river and then pushed along its northern
bank toward the Iraqi capital, while the 3rd Infantry Division
thrust northwards after encircling the Shi'ite Muslim shrine
city of Kerbala.
President George W. Bush launched the war two weeks ago to
oust Saddam and destroy his alleged weapons of mass
destruction. Iraq denied having such weapons and so far none
have been found.
Iraqi television showed Saddam smiling and laughing in a
meeting with ministers, hours after speculation swirled around
world financial markets that he might be dead or wounded. It
was unclear if the pictures were new and the footage did
nothing to diminish such rumors.

MOTORISTS KILLED
In Baghdad, bombs killed several motorists in a blast on a
building that also damaged a Red Crescent hospital across the
street from which patients had earlier been evacuated. At least
five cars were crushed and their drivers burned to death.
Russia called in the U.S. ambassador to Moscow to protest
against air strikes it said had hit Baghdad's residential
districts and endangered the lives of diplomats still working
at its embassy.
In Ankara, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said he had
agreed with Turkey on measures to ship supplies through Turkish
territory to U.S. forces fighting in northern Iraq.
Brooks said the thrust toward Baghdad had taken some U.S.
troops across a "red line" -- into the area where the military
believes Iraqi forces might be most likely to launch a
poison-gas attack.
"If it's used, we'll be prepared," he said.
Iraqi official statements disputed reports of U.S.
successes and insisted its soldiers maintained high morale.
Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf said air
strikes had killed 24 civilians and wounded 186 in the past 24
hours, with 10 dead and 90 wounded in Baghdad alone.
It said its military had killed five infantry soldiers in
the last 24 hours from the U.S.-led force, destroyed 11 tanks,
27 armored personnel carriers, a fighter plane, two Apache
helicopters, one unmanned drone and another military vehicle.
U.S. and British forces have reported no such losses.
Iraq says more than 650 civilians have been killed and more
than 4,000 wounded during the war. There is no way to
independently verify these figures and Iraq has not given
information of its military casualties.
The United States lists 53 dead and 11 missing. Britain
says it has suffered 27 dead.
"No matter how many Iraqi civilians they kill, this will
make us even stronger and even more determined to repel the
invasion and to defeat them," Sahaf said.
Sahaf accused the Americans of bombing holy shrines in the
city of Najaf. But Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke said
Iraqi forces in Najaf were firing from inside the gold-domed
shrine of Ali, one of the holiest sites for Shi'ite Muslims.
The Americans did not return fire, she said.
U.S. soldier Jessica Lynch, held as a prisoner of war by
Iraq for more than a week until U.S. special forces freed her,
arrived in Germany for treatment at an American military
hospital. She has two broken legs and a broken arm.
((Writing by Alan Elsner; editing by Stuart Doughty; Reuters

* U.S. warplanes pound central Baghdad, three bombs hit a
presidential compound; Reuters witness says area hit is site of
Iraqi ministries and military buildings
* U.S. forces engaged in major fighting with IraqiRepublican Guard near key southern town of Kerbala on route to
Baghdad; U.S. says female prisoner of war rescued
* Rumsfeld says only "unconditional surrender" by Iraq will
end war; Saddam, in message read on state television, tells
Iraqis to fight invaders "everywhere", says Jihad is a duty

QUOTES
Saddam in message read on Iraqi state TV: "Hit them. Fight
them. They are evil aggressors damned by God. You are victorious
and they are defeated."
Rumsfeld: "There will be no outcome to this war that leaves
Saddam Hussein and his regime in power. Let there be no doubt,
his time will end, and soon. The only thing that the coalition
will discuss with this regime is their unconditional surrender."

EVENTS (TIMES IN GMT)
Wednesday -
* Colin Powell visits Ankara, Belgrade
* Blair answers questions in parliament (1100)
* Reuters poll of defence and financial analysts on length
of war and impact on various asset prices

Thursday -
* Powell to meet NATO, EU officials in Brussels

Friday -
* Blix takes part in Stockholm seminar on world after war in
Iraq

CASUALTIES
* U.S. - 51 killed, 13 missing
* Britain - 27 killed
* Iraqi military - no confirmed figures
* Iraqi civilians (Iraqi estimates) - 653 killed, 4,850
injured

MILITARY ACTION
BAGHDAD: Fresh airstrikes pummel Baghdad's centre and
southern and western outskirts; overnight raids hit presidential
compound
SOUTHERN IRAQ: Iraqi missile launched from south of Baghdad
towards Najaf brought down by Patriot battery; U.S. says Iraqi
missile fired at Kuwait, also shot down
British Royal Marines continue operations south of Basra
NORTHERN IRAQ: U.S. planes attacked targets close to Kirkuk,
Iraq said it had thwarted a British troop landing near Mosul

* Fresh explosions rock central Baghdad, hit presidential
palace; U.S. says cruise targets Information Ministry
* Three U.S. Marines killed, one injured as Marine
helicopter crashes in southern Iraq, says U.S. war HQ
* British soldier killed in action near Basra;
Iraq says it has destroyed two U.S. or British tanks and nine
armoured personnel carriers over the past day
* Rumsfeld says no plans for pause or ceasefire; Iraq's
banned weapons stockpiled in Baghdad, Tikrit
* Powell urges Syria to abandon support for "terrorist
groups" and Iraqi regime, reiterates tough U.S. line on Iran

QUOTES
Rumsfeld on Iraq's possible possession of banned weapons:
"The area in the south and the west and the north that coalition
forces control is substantial... It happens not to be the area
where weapons of mass destruction were dispersed."
Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Aziz: "They are surprised that
the Iraqi people are resisting them courageously with a great
determination to deter them. We are not surprised, we expected
that, we said that."
Powell: "Syria can continue direct support for terrorist
groups and the dying regime of Saddam Hussein, or it can embark
on a different and more hopeful course."

EVENTS (TIMES IN GMT)
Monday -
* British Defence Secretary Hoon takes questions in
parliament (1330)

CASUALTIES
* U.S. - At least 45 killed, 17 missing
* Britain - 24 killed
* Iraqi military - no confirmed figures
* Iraqi civilians (Iraqi estimates) - 589 killed, 4,582
injured

MILITARY ACTION
BAGHDAD: Explosions rock Baghdad, large oil-filled trench
ablaze; government targets hit.
SOUTHERN IRAQ: British Royal Marines clash with
paramilitaries south of Basra, says British spokesman.
Defence official says troops from U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne
Division placed near Nassiriya to protect supply lines.
NORTHERN IRAQ: B-52 bombers pound positions near Mosul,
Kirkuk. U.S.-led forces seen scouting Iraqi front-line
positions. The United States says it had destroyed a "massive
terrorist facility" in northern Iraq which could have been used
by the militant groups Ansar al-Islam and al Qaeda to make
chemical weapons.

* About 1,000 U.S. troops parachute into northern Iraq,
seize airfield in Kurdish-controlled territory
* More than thirty blasts rock Baghdad overnight
* At least 15 killed in Baghdad street; Pentagon leaves open
possibility of an errant bomb or missile hitting the district
* Huge column of Republican Guard streams out of Baghdad
towards U.S. forces near Najaf
* Iraqi armoured column heads south out of Basra, attacked
by U.S.-led forces, British spokesman says
* Iraqi envoy demands the U.N. Security Council crack down
on U.S., British "naked aggression"

EVENTS (TIMES IN GMT)
Wednesday -
* Bush/Blair dinner at Camp David

Thursday -
* Bush/Blair war talks at Camp David. News conference (1600)
* Blair meets Kofi Annan in New York (1745)
* Umm Qasr should open for aid ships - Britain, Australia

QUOTES
Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa: "Arab people must
trust whoever is speaking to them, but how can this be
possible...after everything we have seen in Iraq?"
Iraqi envoy Mohammed Aldouri: "Iraq...is being subjected to
criminal, barbaric American-British military aggression... This
has led to thousands of casualties among whom are children,
women and elderly."
British Defence Secretary Hoon: "The focus of our effort
will now shift towards close air support of coalition ground
forces advancing on Baghdad... The regime has effectively lost
control of southern Iraq."

CASUALTIES
* U.S.: 22 killed, two missing
* UK: 20 killed, two missing
* Iraqi military - no reliable figures
* Iraqi civilians (Iraqi estimates) - At least 175 killed

MILITARY ACTION
BAGHDAD: More huge explosions rock the centre of Baghdad
overnight after a day of heavy air raids aimed primarily at the
outskirts of the Iraqi capital.
Western aircraft attacked nine Iraqi missile launch sites
but it was not known if any of the weapons struck a busy street
where at least 15 civilians were killed.
SOUTHERN IRAQ:
A column of Iraqi tanks and armoured personnel carriers
poured south out of Basra, attacked by U.S.-led forces.
U.S. troops fought a fierce battle with Iraqi forces for
control of a bridge over the Euphrates river close to Najaf.
U.S. Marines also fought bloody skirmishes as their surge
north towards Baghdad came under sporadic Iraqi attack. U.S.
artillery fired back, allowing the Marines to get through Shatra
after a two-hour delay and reach Qal'at Sukkar, about 100 km (60
miles) north of Nassiriya.
NORTHERN IRAQ: Warplanes pounded frontline Iraqi positions
in the Kurdish-controlled north of the country, some 35 km (20
miles) east of the key northern Iraqi oil city of Kirkuk.

Baghdad would probably become a
bloodbath in a war that could drag on for months, an Australian
National University academic warned today.
President Saddam Hussein considered everyone of the Iraqi
capital's five million residents expendable except himself, said
Professor of Political Science Amin Saikal of ANU's Centre for Arab
and Islamic Studies.
"My feeling is that there is a good chance that Baghdad will be
turned into a bloodbath," Prof Saikal told reporters.
"The coalition forces will have no choice but to go for more
massive bombardment and that is what Saddam Hussein wants.
"He will not really hesitate to escalate the fighting inside the
city of Baghdad even if it means massive casualties for Iraq."
The Iraqi president intended to use the mounting casualties in
his propaganda strategy in a war that he could not win militarily,
but could prevent the United States from winning politically.
"I don't believe that this war is going to be short, swift and
clean as we've been promised," Prof Saikal said.
"This war is likely to last for weeks, if not months, and it's
likely to have a dramatic impact on the civilian population of
Baghdad.
"My feeling, at this point, is that we're likely to see a much
bigger humanitarian crisis looming right across Iraq."
The survival of the elite Republican Guard troops and Fedayeen
militia depended on the Hussein regime and they would fight to the
end.
The fanatical Fedayeen were trained in suicide operations as
well as guerilla warfare.
"Saddam Hussein will be relying very heavily in the 30,000
Fedayeen to carry out a number of suicide missions if necessary,"
Prof Saikal said.
Prof Saikal's grim prediction came as Baghdad's residents
increasingly armed themselves against coalition armoured divisions
that are only 60km from their city.
ANU Strategic and Defence Studies Centre director Dr Alan Dupont
said Baghdad would not be a repeat of the street by street battle
that claimed one million lives in the Russian city of Stalingrad
during World War II.
But he agreed that the coalition forces would probably have to
take the war into Baghdad.
And they could resort to indiscriminate fire power.
"I don't think they're going to go in and carpet bomb the city
and then try and take the whole city," Dr Dupont said.
"They'll have to actually selectively identify sectors of the
city that they believe are crucial to its defence, start to erode
the defences and take out the decision-makers - it's a big ask."