KUWAIT, March 21: US and British forces are in a hurry to get to Baghdad to disrupt Saddam Hussein’s ability to direct military operations, especially any use of weapons of mass destruction, a top British general said on Friday.

“The start has gone very well indeed. We are across (the border), we’re well into Iraq,” Major General Albert Whitely, deputy commander of the US-British land forces said in an interview on the second day of the ground attack.

Just 24 hours after advancing from Kuwait, US and British forces had captured parts of southern Iraq and the US Army’s V Corps had advanced north towards the River Euphrates, Iraq’s main waterway along with the River Tigris.

“I think at the moment the important thing is to get to Baghdad to prevent Saddam’s ability to effect any form of command, particularly over weapons of mass destruction, so Baghdad I think is the focal point,” Whitely said.

Washington and London say the Iraqi president has hidden stocks of chemical and biological weapons. Saddam denies it.

In Baghdad, the troops would hope to avoid getting bogged down in street fighting, Whitely said.

But he cautioned there was a long way to go before the troops reached Baghdad, despite predictions by one military press officer that they could be there in three or four days.

Asked what the next big challenge was for the invading army, Whitely said: “I would have thought the crossing of the Euphrates. After that it’s Baghdad.”

One US armoured unit ran into Iraqi resistance that halted it on Friday near Nassiriya, a main crossing point over the Euphrates some 375 kms southeast of Baghdad. The river controls approaches to the capital.—Reuters