Troops Find Possible Evidence of Weapons of Mass Destruction

April 10, 2003

BAGHDAD, Iraq — U.S. troops on Thursday said they may have found evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq -- what is possibly a stash of weapons-grade plutonium at an Iraqi nuclear facility and an air-conditioned truck that may be a mobile bioweapons lab.

Meanwhile, coalition forces focused their attention on routing out Iraqi fighters in the northern cities of Tikrit, Mosul and Kirkuk.

• Maps: Iraq | Baghdad

In Baghdad, four U.S. Marines were seriously wounded in a suicide bombing attack. A U.S. officer reported "some dead" at the scene -- including the attacker -- but it was not immediately clear if any Americans had been killed.

In the southern city of Najaf, a crowd hacked to death a senior Shiite Islamic leader -- Abdul Majid al-Khoei -- and a Saddam Hussein loyalist -- Haider Al-Kadar -- at a meeting meant to forge reconciliation in one of Shiite Islam's holiest shrines.

U.S. Marines may have found weapons-grade plutonium in a massive underground facility discovered beneath Iraq's Al Tuwaitha nuclear complex.

Coalition forces are investigating radioactive material found at the site, embedded reporter Carl Prine of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review told Fox News. The complex is operated by the Iraqi Atomic Energy Commission and is located south of Baghdad's suburbs.

Two preliminary tests have suggested that the material may be weapons-grade plutonium, but officials said further testing is necessary before that can be confirmed.

And Fox News' Rick Leventhal reported that the Marines he is embedded with -- the 2nd Battalion, 23rd Marines -- may have found a mobile biological weapons lab around Baghdad.

The Marines ordered a vehicle that appeared to be a refrigerator truck to stop at a construction site. When the truck did not stop, troops opened fire on it, and the driver jumped out and fled.

Investigators looked inside and saw what looked like a surface-to-air radar vehicle. But hidden inside fake side panels were an electronic pulley system, open jars and containers, a winch and hooks meant to move apparatus for rinsing and cooling substances without manual help.

Marines said the truck fit the description of a mobile bioweapons lab, and they planned to conduct further tests on the vehicle.

Focus Shifts to North

America's Kurdish allies entered Kirkuk near some of Iraq's most productive oil fields with little to no resistance, essentially seizing the city.

Kurdish residents celebrated, looted government buildings and toppled of a statue of Saddam.

Turkey is sending military observers to Kirkuk. The United States has opposed Turkey sending troops to the region out of fear their presence would inflame tensions with the Kurds.

"We've been in contact with officials in Turkey as well as free Iraqis in the north and I think it is fair to say that American forces will be in control of Kirkuk," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters.

There are reports that Republican Guard troops are funneling into Tikrit and Mosul.

Senior defense officials told Fox News Thursday that "no command and control is being detected at all in Baghdad," but that some command and control functions remained near Tikrit, Saddam's ancestral homeland.

The officials also said Izzat Ibrahim, vice chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council and deputy commander of the Iraqi armed forces, may be trying to mount a defense in Tikrit.

The officials said "elements" of up to eight regular Iraqi army divisions remain in the north. "Parts of one brigade of a Republican Guard division" are expected to join one brigade of the Special Republican Guard to defend Tikrit.

U.S. air strikes reportedly were hitting the frontlines in Mosul.

Continued Fighting in Baghdad

One day after jubilant Iraqis, with the help of U.S. troops, brought down a statue of Saddam Hussein in the center of Baghdad, at least two explosions rocked the southern end of the Old Palace presidential compound. U.S. Army troops appeared to return fire with tank cannons.

"Despite what you see in terms of localized euphoria ... this operation is a long way from complete," Air Force Maj. Gen. Victor Renuart said during a U.S. Central Command briefing in Doha, Qatar.

"There's a long way to go still … Baghdad's still an ugly place."

Iraqi fighters in northern Baghdad's Imam Mosque fought bitterly with U.S. Marines.

Marines from the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force received a tip that regime leaders were meeting at the house of a senior Baath Party official. Military officials don't know if Saddam was among them.

The "intense fighting" took place near the Az Amihyah Palace. One Marine was killed and up to 20 others were wounded; the mosque was in good condition.

"The regime of Saddam Hussein is being removed from power" and freedom will soon reign, President Bush told Iraqis in televised remarks broadcast throughout Iraq Thursday.

"The long era of fear and cruelty is ending," Bush said. "The government of Iraq and the future of your country will soon belong to you."

Saddam Loyalists May Be Heading for Syria

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said some members of Saddam's regime were moving out of Iraq into Syria.

But later Thursday afternoon, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Damascus has made an important decision -- one the United States hopes it keeps.

"We now understand Syria has closed its borders, to all but humanitarian traffic," Boucher said. "That's what they have told us and we certainly hope that is true. Syria has a choice to make and we hope it makes the right one."

The White House also says Syria has sent military equipment into Iraq.

"We don't want any transits to continue of any kind one way or another," Boucher said. "And, yes, we do have concerns about what may have crossed in the direction of Iraq already."

Elsewhere in Iraq, civilians struggled with shortages of food, medicine and clean water. International aid groups are demanding swift access to civilians.

In response to rampant looting, some senior Iraqi clerics are asking coalition forces to reinforce curfews and deem looting illegal.

British troops on Thursday asked Basra residents to turn in their guns.

"Iraq has a culture of weapons," said Capt. Cliff Dare of 3 Commando Brigade Engineer Group. "If we want to give the new Iraq a chance, these weapons have to be taken out of circulation."

The Search for WMDs

U.S. officials told Fox News that CIA officers are in Baghdad and throughout Iraq looking for scientists to point out the locations of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

Special operations teams are also looking for weapons materials at 1,000 sites. Senior defense officials said, "The list has grown ... and [the teams] have only been through a small number of sites (fewer than 20)."

At a schoolhouse, Marines discovered an enormous cache of weapons, including hundreds of mortars and grenade launchers, and millions of rounds of ammunition.

Senior defense officials also told Fox News that the MOAB -- the "Massive Ordnance Air Blast" munition nicknamed the "Mother of All Bombs," is ready for use if needed.

"I can't think of a situation in which we would use one," said one senior U.S. official.

Rumsfeld said several missions remain to be accomplished: securing the northern oil fields, determining what happened to Saddam and his sons, uncovering details of Saddam's weapons programs, and capturing or killing any terrorists still at large.

Saddam's whereabouts since Monday's bombing remained a mystery. U.S. special operations forces scoured the site where he may have been killed Wednesday.

Fox News' Bret Baier, Major Garrett, David Lee Miller, Teri Schultz, Eric Shawn and Liza Porteus and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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