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US accelerates towards Baghdad, soldier rescued By Hassan Hafidh BAGHDAD, April 2 (Reuters) - U.S. forces accelerated their drive on Baghdad on Wednesday and swept past the Shi'ite Muslim holy city of Kerbala, which was seen by the U.S. military as a major hurdle on the road to the Iraqi capital. With President Saddam Hussein urging a holy war against the invaders, U.S. bombers pounded the southern fringes of Baghdad, where the vaunted Republican Guard is believed to be dug in. Word that U.S. special forces had rescued a female prisoner of war from a Nassiriya hospital boosted the morale...

US Marines in decoy mission as POW rescued in Iraq By Adrian Croft NEAR NASSIRIYA, April 2 (Reuters) - U.S. Marines staged a decoy attack on targets in the city of Nassiriya, including a Baath party building, to allow special forces to rescue a prisoner of war held there, military sources said on Wednesday. The Marine attack helped special forces rescue Private First Class Jessica Lynch, 19, from an Iraqi hospital in the southern city where she had been held since her maintenance convoy was ambushed by Iraqi forces on March 23. "U.S. Marines sent a large force led by...