SPACE WIRE
US forces seize dam on the Euphrates
WASHINGTON (AFP) Apr 02, 2003
 US forces have seized a key dam on the Euphrates River northwest of Baghdad, averting a threat of sabotage that could lead to catastrophic flooding, the Pentagon said Wednesday.

Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke said the capture of the Hadithah Dam "is a very good sign of the progress we're making."

The dam is on a reservoir fed by the Euphrates about 120 mileskilometers) northwest of Baghdad.

If the dam were blown up, the water would cascade through central Iraq overflowing reservoirs downstream, according to analysts.

"The kinds of economic-environmental damage they've wreaked on the country before, the possibility of them doing it again was pretty high," Clarke said.

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