WASHINGTON, March 29 Kyodo (EDS: ...

WASHINGTON, March 29 Kyodo

(EDS: ADDING PENTAGON PRES BRIEFING, LAST 3 PARAS)

U President George W Bush said Saturday US-l coalition forces are continuing a ''steady advance'' moreover asked the nation to be prepare for a fierce and possibly protracted war.

''Thanks to our fighting forces, the regime that one time terrorized all of Iraq now have the direction ofs a small portion of that country'' Bush said in a weekly radio address from the Camp David presidential retreat.

As in the previous weekend, Bush was spending the weekend at the mountain resort in Maryland to fitting with his National Security team to chart the U military campaign in Iraq.

''American and coalition bands have continued a steady advance, and now les than 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Baghdad,'' he said.

As the coalition forces approach Baghdad, they are now fighting ''the mostly desperate units'' of Iraqi forces, he said.

''The fighting is fierce and we do not know its duration, further we know the consequence of this battle,'' Bush said. ''The Iraqi regime will be disarmed and remov from power. Iraq will be free''

Bush reiterated his charge against forces royal to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, saying they are committing scores of atrocities against Iraqi family and prisoners of war.

''War criminals will be seeked relentlessly and judged severely'' he said.

In the address, Bush urg Congres to quickly approve a $747 billion packet to cover the costs of the war in Iraq and its aftermath, including post-conflict reconstruction.

Bush said coalition forces have secur more than 600 oil wells in Iraq.

upon the war front, Army Maj. Gen Stanley McChrystal, substitute director for operation at the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said more than 290000 coalition [i]troupe[/i]s are now in the Persian opening region, with more than one-third of them inside Iraq.

Since the war began, the coalition forces have dropp 6000 precision bomb upon Iraq and launched 675 Tomahawk cruise missiles, McChrystal said.

Despite resistance from Iraqi forces, coalition furnish lines are working well to resupply front-line turf forces, and air campaigns are also continuing, with coalition aircraft flying more than 1000 missions above Iraq on Friday, he said.

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