18 April 2004	Sunday	27 Safar 1425

BAGHDAD, April 17: The US-led Coalition Provisional Authority said on Saturday it would close various sections of highways connecting Baghdad from the north, east and south for repairs , dismissing talk it might be linked to fears that guerillas in nearby Fallujah and the south will bring the fight to the capital.

The announcement followed the blowing up of bridges over a main highway from Baghdad to southern Iraq by guerillas, further disrupting the country's battered transport system.

Debris from blasts targeting at least two bridges closed the Baghdad-Hilla road, one of two highways leading to the port city of Basra.

A statement by the CPA said: "Various sections of Highways One and Eight in the Wasit, Babil and Diyala provinces will be closed indefinitely for civilian travel until Iraqi engineers and coalition forces can repair them."

The statement said these highways "have become targets for anti-coalition forces. The highways are damaged and too dangerous for civilian travel".

The statement said the closure to the north would start at Balad, 75kms from Baghdad, and that the closing to the south will start at "Rakkab al Muktif", which could not be located on maps.

With the recent closing of the main highway running west to Jordan due to the fighting in Fallujah, these closings would effectively cut access to the capital through the major highways.

But Brig Gen Mark Kimmitt, deputy director of military operations, said that motorists would be directed to alternative routes.

"There are many ways to get into Baghdad and many ways of getting out of Baghdad," he told reporters.

For his part senior CPA spokesman Dan Senor said a media campaign would be launched to make Iraqis aware of the closings and the alternative routes open to them.

"We do intend to communicate to the Iraqi people that these roads are being closed because of attacks in Iraq," he said.

SUPPLY LINES: A traveller who came to Baghdad from Hilla, a town south of the capital, said: "The guerillas are after US supply lines. American convoys are having to drive off the highway and go through rough terrain around the bridges."

Guerillas in central and southern Iraq have severely disrupted the transport system, harmed trade, and restricted supply routes.

Iraq's oil ministry has stopped importing gasoline through Syria, Jordan and the Gulf because of poor security along western and southern highways.

The western highway leading to Syria and Jordan is deemed too dangerous to travel as guerillas fight US forces in and around the city of Fallujah.-Reuters