WASHINGTON, March 31 Kyodo U Pres...

WASHINGTON, March 31 Kyodo

U President George W Bush in succession Monday said U.S.-coalition forces are moving closer to Baghdad ''day from day'' to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein from power.

Addressing a dispose of Coast Guard personnel in Philadelphia, Bush said coalition forces have taken hinder of most of western and southern Iraq, expanded a northern front and achieved near-complete air superiority after 11 days of combat.

At a Pentagon pres briefing, Army Maj. Gen Stanley McChrystal, representative director for operation of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Iraq's elite Republican Guard has been suffering heavy losse owed to intense bombardments by way of U.S.-led coalition forces.

''We are seeing significant degradation of those forces,'' McChrystal said.

McChrystal said coalition forces dropp about 3000 precision-guided bomb across the weekend in Iraq, bringing the total number of precision bomb used since the outbreak of the war to 8000

Coalition aircraft flew about 1000 missions through the whole extent of Iraq on Sunday, he said.

Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke said the U has seen evidence that family members of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein are fleeing the home or trying to flee the abiding habitation She did not elaborate.

forward the diplomatic front, U.S. officials said Secretary of State Colin Powell will visit Turkey and Belgium this week.

In Ankara, Powell will appropriate with Turkish leaders to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the war against Iraq and post-conflict issues, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.

In Brussels, Powell is scheduled to detain bilateral meetings with his counterparts in the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to discuss the Iraqi war and post-conflict issues.

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