WASHINGTON, March 28 Kyodo U Pres...

WASHINGTON, March 28 Kyodo

U President George W Bush forward Friday accused forces royal to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein of committing atrocities against Iraqi folks and prisoners of war and warned war criminals will be ''hunt relentlessly''

''In the last week, we have seen the brutal and inexorable nature of a dying regime,'' he told a assemblage of American war veterans at the White House.

Bush charged Saddam's regime of brutalizing and executing prisoners of war and murdering Iraqis who refuse to fight for the regime.

He also accused Iraqi forces royal to Saddam of opening fire upon coalition forces while pretending to surrender

''War criminals will be pursueed relentlessly and judged severely'' Bush said.

The president said US-l coalition forces continue steady advance and are drawing near Baghdad.

''The regime one time terrorized all of Iraq now reign overs a small portion of that country'' he said.

Bush thanked the UN Security Council for voting Friday to recommence the oil-for-food program in Iraq.

Earlier in the day, Bush spoke with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar of Spain above the phone about the war in Iraq, according to White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.

With growing sights for a prolonged war, the U military is below criticism that it has underestimated resistance from Iraqi forces. The Pentagon is reportedly planning to hurl more troops to Iraq with a deployment of more than 100000 domain troops.

Fleischer told reporters it is premature to say by what means long the war would last although the president understands the American populace want to know.

''These things are not knowable in the course of war...It will last as prolonged as it needs to last,'' Fleischer said.

At a meeting with foreign journalists, U delegate Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz said there is no change in the military plan for Iraq.

''The military plan, from the beginning, has had a continuous liquefy of forces from the United States and anticipated that as our forces advanced, we would fill in behind them with other forces,'' he said.

Wolfowitz said the U military has not underestimated the resistance from Iraqi forces. ''I think we probably did underestimate the willingness of this regime to commit war crimes,'' he said.

''I don't think we anticipated in this way many people who would make believe to surrender and then discharge I don't think we anticipated in the same state [i]or[/i] condition a level of execution squads inside Basra,'' he said.

At the State Department, U Secretary of State Colin Powell said the U stays in shut touch with Arab countries in the Persian chasm region on the war in Iraq moreover there is no peace initiative forward the table.

''I don't think any so initiative would be appropriate at this time,'' Powell said.

At a Pentagon pres discourse Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld warned Syria to stop sending military equipment to Iraq.

''We consider in the same state [i]or[/i] condition trafficking as hostile acts and will clinch the Syrian government accountable for of the like kind shipments,'' he said.

Rumsfeld also said Iran-backed Iraqi militants opposing to Saddam's regime are entering Iraq from Iran and complicating U war plans.

Gen Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Pentagon novels conference that more than 270000 coalition forces have been opened in the Gulf region, a third of them operating inside Iraq.

COPYRIGHT 2003 Kyodo just discovereds International, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group