ERRI MORNING NEWS SUMMARY

BAGHDAD (EmergencyNet News) - Baghdad was hit by more U.S.-led air attacks early Saturday as an Iraqi official said the death toll from three nights of bombardment had more than doubled to 68. The latest attacks, the fiercest so far, died away only minutes before Iraqi Muslims started to observe Islam's most holy month of Ramadan.

BAGHDAD (EmergencyNet News) - Residents said damage from attacks on the Iraqi capital was heavy and that a number of buildings in the center of the city -- including palaces, security headquarters and offices of the ruling Baath Party -- had been hit. The attack appeared to be the toughest yet against Baghdad since the U.S. and British militaries began airstrikes early on Thursday to punish Iraq for its obstruction of U.N. weapons inspectors searching for evidence of weapons of mass destruction. When the attack ended, ambulances or fire trucks with sirens blaring were heard speeding away.

DAMASCUS (EmergencyNet News) - Thousands of stone-throwing demonstrators attacked the U.S. embassy in Damascus on Saturday in protest against U.S.- led air strikes on Iraq. U.S. guards inside the compound fired tear gas canisters at the angry crowd and Syrian security forces tried to prevent demonstrators from storming the embassy.

JERUSALEM (EmergencyNet News) - Palestinians chanting "Death to America, Death to Israel" demonstrated across the West Bank Friday and angry Muslims held rallies around the world in a second day of protests against U.S. and British air strikes on Iraq. In the West Bank, three Palestinian protesters were injured when Israeli troops fired rubber-coated bullets at stone- throwers, but disturbances were less intense than Thursday when a 19- year-old Palestinian was fatally shot.

LONDON (EmergencyNet News) - British Defense Secretary George Robertson on Saturday said the United States and Britain had so far attacked 100 targets in Iraq. He said British Tornado bombers hit the headquarters of Iraq's crack Republican Guard in the latest wave of air attacks. He added that Iraq's biological and chemical war machine had been substantially damaged.

ERRI SPECIAL IRAQI CRISIS REPORT

ERRI Risk Assessment Services Saturday, December 19, 1998 MID-MORNING

BAGHDAD (EmergencyNet News) - The Iraqi capital of Baghdad was hit by three waves of U.S.-led air attacks early on Saturday. The strikes were said to had been the fiercest in central Baghdad in three days of bombardment. They came hours after Saddam Hussein had defied Washington and London and called on Arabs to resist what he called the agents of Satan.

As this report was being written, U.S. and British military forces had began their fourth night of attacks on Iraq.

Iraqi official said the death toll from three nights of bombardment had more than doubled to 68. The previous official death toll had been at least 25 dead and 75 wounded in Baghdad, with no figures available for the rest of the country.

Saddam said on Friday: "We stand against the barbaric ways of those that have used our airspace to launch an aggression against our people." Iraqi newspapers took up the theme on Saturday with fierce condemnation of the U.S. and Britain and made appeals for all Arabs to unite against them.

The Al-Qadissiya paper said: "Now the doors are open wide for Arabs to enter Iraq to take part in the decisive battle of Um al-Ma'rik (the mothers of all battles)."

U.S. Defense Department officials said late on Friday the U.S. and British strikes against Iraq could end within hours. Ramadan had been a key element in the timing of the raids on Iraq.

A British Defense Ministry spokesman in London would only say: "Operations are ongoing. They will finish when we are satisfied that we have met our objectives. We are not prepared to speculate on when that will be."

Baghdad's air defenses appeared to be taken by surprise by the second attack at 0405 hours local time. More than eight explosions rocked the city center in the space of four minutes and anti-aircraft guns opened fire only after the first explosions were heard. One building was hit by what appeared to be three cruise missiles in this attack, but it was not possible to determine what the structure was used for.

The air defenses were said to be taken by surprise again 30 minutes later when more than five explosions shook Baghdad. Witnesses said that the pan-Arab headquarters of Iraq's ruling Baath Party was hit and badly damaged. The two main buildings of the Baath Party complex in Qadissiya district took direct missile hits.

Information of strikes against targets in other parts of Iraq have been scarce since the attacks began on Thursday morning.

National security advisers were expected to brief POTUS on the success of the bomb and missile attacks after reviewing the outcome of the latest assault. U.S. defense officials said Friday the campaign could end as early as Saturday, and that a final decision was likely to be made after an assessment of damage from three days of raids, which began Wednesday night.

Emergency Net News Special Report

(EmergencyNet News)-Saturday, December 19, 1998, 17:00CST (23:00Zulu) Washington, DC (EmergencyNet News) - U.S. President Bill Clinton, late this afternoon, announced that Operation Desert Fox has been concluded for now. According to the POTUS, the objectives of the campaign have been accomplished in the past 70 hours of bombing. Although bomb damage assessments (BDA) are still underway, military officials say that they have managed to "substantially degrade" Saddam Hussien's military and Weapons of Mass Destruction programs. Officials in Washington also lauded the fact that no U.S. casualties were reported during Operation Desert Fox. Gen. Hnery Shelton is expected to give a news conference regarding the campaign later today.