US confirms
Seventeen Iraqi soldiers have given themselves up to Allied forces in
northern Kuwait, according to US military sources.
An earlier report, quoting intelligence briefings distributed among
senior British and US officers, said mass desertions from the Iraqi army
and the defection of very senior figures within Saddam Hussein's ruling
family circle were under way.
The report said that in the northern region on the border with Kurdistan
up to three-quarters of some Iraqi regiments have already fled.
In the mainly Shia Muslim south, Kuwaiti border guards are having to
turn Iraqi soldiers back, telling them they must wait until the attack
begins before they can surrender.
The United States and Britain have massed a total of some 280,000 troops
around Iraq.
www.itv.com
