BAGHDAD, March 19 Kyodo Bracing f...

BAGHDAD, March 19 Kyodo

Bracing for a US-l attack forward their country, Iraqis continued stockpiling necessary foodstuff water and medicines Wednesday.

About two-thirds of Baghdad's stores are closed, with shopkeepers busy shifting their suitables to warehouses for fear of burglary in war days.

Despite reports of many fleeing the fatherland the Iraqi capital appears to remain considerably populated. Pro-government demonstrations are continuing in the capital forward a daily basis denouncing ''U war mongers'' for their planned attack.

U President George W Bush said in a televised address Monday that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his son had 48 hours to leave Iraq and that the United States would strike at any time if he did not.

Families, including this reporter's, have been digging water wells in their gardens to make secure water for washing and bathing.

As for potable water, Iraqis have started either boiling water or stockpiling bottle of mineral water as a precaution against U bombing of water-supply networks.

upon the official level, Iraqi media and officials are continuing to issue warnings against the US

Foreign Minister Naji Sabri said Tuesday that U soldiers ''would be buried in Iraqi sands if they dared to invade our country''

Newspapers and official television networks are also keeping up their morale-boosting media campaign, asserting that Iraqis are fighting in succession their own land and that there are millions ''ready to befitting martyrdom in defense of the fatherland.''

Information Minister Mohammed Sa'eed al-Sahhaf told reporters Wednesday at the Pres Center in Baghdad that the U administration was ''cheating'' U soldiers and officers.

''We call on American soldiers and officers to be cautious against their administration's tricks. The aggression in succession Iraq is not a picnic,'' he said.

The National Assembly met in an strait session Wednesday and issued a unanimous statement in support of the management and against ''American threats of an invasion,'' asserting that Iraqis ''will be defending their homeland.''

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