SPARE US: Defeated and weary Iraqi militiamen line up with hands in the air

WE RULE THE ROADS: British tank crew patrol outskirts of Basra

89 PER CENT BACK WAR - POLL

89 per cent think we should see the battle through, with just eight per cent saying the war should be stopped. PM Tony Blair's personal approval ratings also remain high. Forty nine per cent like the way he is handling the Iraq crisis, while 38 per cent do not. ICM Research interviewed a random sample of 540 adults aged 18+ by telephone on 4-5th April, 2003. Interviews were conducted across the country and the results have been weighted to the profile of all adults.

SADDAMBURGER AND FRIES

THEY say an army marches on its stomach–and here's the proof. The crew of this US Humvee stopped for a snack as they rolled into Baghdad yesterday. One serviceman nipped out, grabbed the grub, then raced back to hand it round. How's this for a doggy-Bagh (below)?

SNACK ATTACK: He gets grub

FAST FOOD: Soldier races back

LET'S ROLL: He hands it round

MUM IS FIRST GIRL SOLDIER SLAIN

THE war claimed its first woman killed in action yesterday—a 23-year-old mum of two. Private Lori Ann Piestewa was identified as among 11 bodies found buried near the hospital in Nasiriyah. Eight, including Lori, were in a US maintenance convoy ambushed on March 23 after getting lost. The other three bodies were Iraqis. Lori, who leaves a four-year-old son and a three-year-old daughter, was an American Indian, a rarity in the US military. She was following a proud family tradition. Her father fought in Vietnam, her granddad in World War II. Last night her grieving Hopi tribe put up a banner saying "The spirits are with her" on their reservation outside Tuba City, Arizona. Her seven comrades found buried were named as Master Sgt Robert Dowdy, 38; Pt Ruben Estrella-Soto, 18; Spc James Kiehl, 22; Ch Wrt Officer Johnny Mata, 35; Pt Brandon Sloan, 19; Sgt Donald Walters, 33; and Sgt George Buggs, 31. HEARTBROKEN Debi Allbutt joined soccer fans in a minute's silence for her army corporal husband Stephen at his local Stoke City ground. On Friday she got a letter from him saying "I led the squadron into Iraq, hooray for Allbutt!" It was posted four days before his tank of the Queen's Royal Lancers was destroyed by friendly fire.

BRITISH DEAD

THIRTY-TWO brave British servicemen had given their lives in the war by last night. IN ACTION: Stf Sergeant Chris Muir, 32; Marine Christopher Maddison; Sapper Luke Allsopp, 24; Stf Sgt Simon Cullingworth, 36; Sgt Steven Roberts, 33; L Cpl Barry Stephen, 31; IN FRIENDLY FIRE: L Cpl Matty Hull, 25; Cpl Stephen John Allbutt, 35; Trpr David Jeffrey Clarke, 19; Ft Lt Kevin Main, 37; Ft Lt Dave Williams, 35; IN ACCIDENTS: L Cpl Karl Shearer; L Cpl Shaun Brierley; Capt Philip Guy, 29; Rtg Ian Seymour; WO2 Mark Stratford, 39; Marine Sholto Hedenskog, 26; LBdr Llywelyn Evans, 24; Colour Sgt John Cecil; Maj Jason Ward, 34, Sgt Les Hehir, 34; Lt Philip Green, 31; Lt Antony King, 35; Lt James Williams, 28; Lt Philip West, 32; Lt Marc Lawrence, 25; Lt Andrew Wilson, 36.

White flag over Basra

FROM Chris Bucktin in Basra and Keith Gladdis in Qatar

THREE divisions of the Iraqi army in Basra yesterday made a desperate attempt to wave the white flag of surrender.

Senior officers persuaded Shi'ite clerics in the city to act as middlemen—saying they were ready to lay down their arms.

The Mullahs then put the deal to Coalition intelligence officers—the Iraqis would surrender if they were allowed to form the core of the country's armed forces after liberation.

The divisions, the 10th, 12th and 14th, are all regular army units and not Saddam Hussein's Republican Guard or Fedayeen troops.

The surrender offer was being seriously considered by Allied commanders last night.

A source said: "We have received contact from high-ranking officers of the 10th, 12th and 14th Divisions with a view to them surrendering and handing over the city.

"As part of any deal they have asked to become the mainstay of the country's army once the war is over. We are not here to decimate Iraq, we are here solely to change the regime.

Harm

"Their request to lead Iraq's military is not one that has fallen on deaf ears. It is a request we would look favourably on."

Significantly the 10th Division is one of the most heavily armoured Saddam possesses. It is equipped with T55 tanks which have provided most of the resistance to Allied troops around Basra.

Even with a surrender in place, British troops still expect to meet fierce resistance in the city. The source added: "Of course there will be small pockets of men still loyal to Saddam. They will be intent on causing the greatest possible harm to the Coalition and supporters."

Basra, Iraq's second biggest city, is now surrounded by a "ring of steel" including tanks from the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, part of the 7th Armoured Brigade.

The British plan is to bottle up the city, while launching surprise incursions. Special forces and elements of the Black Watch and 3 Commando are conducting night-time raids to destroy "command and control" targets.

Other special forces are lodged in safe houses, from where they gather intelligence and call in strikes by Allied aircraft.

A military source said: "We learn that Ba'ath Party militia or Saddam Fedayeen are meeting in a building, and two or three hours later that building isn't there."

British commanders have made it clear they are in no rush to take the city by force. But the commander of Britain's Desert Rats believes the regime in Basra is already "on the run". Brigadier Graham Binns, CO of the 7th Armoured Brigade, said: "They survive in Basra because of their ability to impose their will on the people, and that ability is evaporating.

"Our intelligence tells us that morale is low among the defenders of the city, that the population is glad to see us, can't wait to see us."

Ba'ath Party hardliners are now running scared—and considering surrender to prevent bloody reprisals from locals once the city falls.

A dozen of Saddam's most hated followers are said to have been begging Shi'ite cleric Mohammed al-Bosslimi to arrange a deal. A military source at Central Command in Qatar said: "These people have been responsible for a reign of terror.

"They have forced people into fighting by threatening to slaughter their families, they have shot at refugees fleeing the city and they have held public executions.

"Now Baghdad is set to fall they are the ones living in fear. There is a real possibility they could end up hanging from a lamppost."

UK military spokesman, Group Captain Al Lockwood, confirmed British troops would consider a surrender. He said: "There are many avenues available to them to contact our forces. If they wish to surrender, we would help them."

But it IS crucial the city falls. Basra is key to Coalition plans to get the oilfields working again.

Brigadier General Robert Crear, of the US Army Corps of Engineers, revealed capturing the city would ease the fears of Iraqi workers now too frightened to return to their jobs in the oilfields.

He said: "Basra is critical, that's where the pipelines are going to flow to the pumping stations. And that part of the country is not totally under control. There are still bad guys, and we can't bring civilians in to work."

Meanwhile, the British are also using psychological operations to seek out and destroy any opposition left in Basra.

Troops

One tactic is to broadcast recorded "tank noises" and fool the Iraqis into believing a military formation is heading their way.

Speakers mounted on Land Rovers play the sound of Challenger 2 tanks at ear splitting volumes.

On one occasion, the recording forced three Iraqi mobile artillery units with mortars—hidden behind a concrete hut—into making a retreat. The units were immediately exposed to a barrage of fire from British artillery.

Meanwhile, in the north of Iraq Kurdish forces have started massing troops near the border within striking distance of the oil-rich city of Khaneqin.

Kurdish troop strength along the frontline has risen from less than 400 a few weeks ago to between 1,500 and 1,800 now.

It is to rise to about 3,000 within days, said Mola Bakhtiyar, a Kurdish political and military leader.

Taking control of Khaneqin would be a major victory for the Kurds, who long to reclaim lost homes and villages and the major oil centres of Mosul and Kirkuk.

The soldiers have seen the mass graves Saddam's henchmen dug for their countrymen murdered for co-operating with US troops during the last Gulf War in 1991.

This time round, in an unspeakable act of barbarism, children had their throats slit.

And yesterday families fleeing Basra were fired on by Iraqi troops. Compassionate US marines picked up children and took them to safety.

Royal Irish Regiment soldiers foiled a plot by the Ba'ath monsters to assassinate one of their comrades as ‘reprisal' for their liberation of the town.

Lt Col Collins, who gave a rousing speech to his men at the start of the war, stormed: "There will be no murders on my watch. We came into this area with excellent intelligence and have since made first-class local contacts. At the risk of their lives local people offered information to my patrols and it was spot-on. It saved the life of one of my men."

Lt Col Collins based himself in the Ba'ath party HQ as a psychological move.

On the front door, one of his men has defiantly scrawled: "Welcome to Free Iraq."