Weather permitting, he said, the Iraqi column would be under attack from RAF Harriers and US ground attack aircraft.The six divisions of Republican Guards had been dug in around Baghdad and were not expected to move into the open to face the superior equipment of the Allies and expose themselves to air attacks.It was unclear last night whether the two columns of 1,000 vehicles included many tanks. Their intention might be to attack the marines head on or it might be to fan out into the desert and reinforce the small groups of Iraqis who have been harassing marines and ambushing supply convoys.Although Nasiriyah was "captured" by the marines three days ago, bands of "irregulars" – either soldiers in civilian clothes or members of Saddam Hussein's Fedayeen "martyrs brigade" – are still operating in the area. The town came under heavy mortar fire yesterday.A convoy of US Marines also came under machine-gun fire from several directions as it moved north from Nasiriyah carrying fuel, food and ammunition towards the main marine force yesterday afternoon There were no reports of casualties. Whatever the precise Iraqi tactics may be, it appears that the Republican Guards – regarded as the most reliable soldiers in the Iraqi army – are not prepared to sit still to be attacked from the air by the heavily armed forces converging on Baghdad from three directions. There were reports yesterday that other Republican Guard units may also be on the move, possibly to replace the 3,000 men who are moving south.The intention of the Iraqi commanders may be to sow confusion in the Allied forces and – even at great cost to themselves – inflict as much damage as possible before the beginning of the siege of Baghdad proper. Significant Allied casualties, even in one-sided battles lost by the Iraqis, could jolt public opinion in the US and Britain and provide Iraqi propagandists with more television footage of dead or captured Allied troops. Either way, there has been a significant shift in Iraqi tactics in the past 48 hours.

Initially, the Iraqis appeared content to launch opportunist ambushes on supply columns and other soft targets.In the past two days, the so-called irregulars have turned to full-frontal attacks on heavily armed American units.The battle between US armoured vehicles and light Iraqi vehicles at Abu Sukhayr continued after nightfall yesterday. The Iraqi force, consisting of pick-up trucks and similar vehicles to which machine-guns and rocket launchers had been attached, was attempting to seize control of a bridge over the Euphrates river. There were no immediate reports of American casualties but an officer close to the scene of the fighting told some reporters that several US tanks and armoured personnel carriers had been knocked out.A similar assault on an armoured column in a thick sandstorm by a force of Iraqi light vehicles on Tuesday led to what was probably the bloodiest single battle of the war so far. Tanks from 7th Cavalry Regiment of the 3rd Infantry came under attack from scores of vehicles carrying guns and rockets.American sources said up to 500 Iraqis had been killed Two tanks were knocked out. About 200 Iraqis were said to have been killed in a similar attack further east.. On the seventh day of the Iraq war, the two leaders of the Allied coalition met to talk of destruction and reconstruction It was hard to tell which was uppermost in their minds.

It was hard to tell which was uppermost in their minds. Tony Blair flew across the Atlantic to confer with George Bush at Camp David, knowing that US missiles had earlier slammed into a poor residential area of Baghdad, killing at least 15 people, according to eyewitness estimates, wounding many more, provoking incandescent fury among the Iraqis and providing the sort of harrowing pictures of civilian casualties the Allies have been desperate to avoid.Mr Blair also took with him the grim knowledge that despite such terrible images, current levels of bombing and battering may not be enough to secure victory and that even more brute force may have to be authorised to overcome Saddam Hussein. The Americans are already talking of reinforcements, and the US Army announced yesterday it would deploy its hi-tech 4th Infantry Division to the Gulf to join the war, with the first troops likely to leave today. A first detachment of about 1000 US paratroopers also landed in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq, possibly heralding the opening of a northern front.Yet, as Prime Minister met President in the Marylandretreat of Camp David, Mr Blair was keen to make Mr Bush focus on the post-war settlement and rebuilding of Iraq, and to persuade him of the need for the United Nations to take a substantial role, not least so that the war-fractured relationship between the Anglo-Saxon world and Europe could to some degree be repaired.Whether Mr Bush would agree to the latter proposition seemed a moot point. On his Air Force One flight to Florida to address US troops yesterday morning, before the meeting with Mr Blair, the regular "stuffed French toast" item on his breakfast menu had been replaced with "stuffed freedom toast". Take that, Frenchies.But the encounter between two of the world's most powerful men was principally about something else ­ the dilemma at the heart of a liberal imperialist war, the need to talk of destroying and rebuilding in almost the same breath. That was as clearly visible at Camp David as it was in Iraq itself.In central Iraq, the destruction was continuing at a furious rate as US forces battled on towards Baghdad, while at the same moment in the south, the initial steps to rebuild a broken country were being taken, with the arrival of the first aid shipments at the newly secured port of Umm Qasr.Seven large and battered tractor-trailers emerged from a sandstorm and drove into the town, having crossed the desert from Kuwait with a cargo of food and water. As the trucks lumbered past blasted buildings on the border, an Iraqi boy about 10 years old pointed to his mouth and shouted "Eat, eat!" When the convoy arrived, Iraqi youths cheered and swarmed around British troops as they handed out yellow meal packets and bottles of water.

Later, the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Sir Galahad was expected to dock in Umm Qasr with more than 230 tonnes of supplies, including 110 tonnes of water, 18 tonnes of rice, 20 tonnes of lentils and five tonnes of milk, after the 47-mile long channel from the Gulf had been cleared of Iraqi mines. All the supplies are badly needed in Basra, where aid agencies are warning of an impending disaster. Red Cross workers managed in part to restore the water supply yesterday as they strove to avert a crisis for up to two million people trapped in the city.Kofi Annan, the UN secretary general, said he would meet the heads of all UN humanitarian agencies to discuss Iraq. Iraqis have about five weeks of food left, according to estimates by the World Food Program (WFP).The agency said Iraq would probably need the biggest aid operation yet to feed its 24 million population for six months ­ once the war is over. "We are envisioning an enormous programme, probably the biggest humanitarian operation in history," a spokesman said. The WFP will make the biggest single request for cash in its history ­ more than $1bn (£630m) to help to feed the country for about six months.But it was destruction that was making more headlines yesterday, as two off-target missiles brought death to one of Baghdad's commercial and residential districts ­ mainly occupied by Shia Muslims who are potential enemies of the Sunni Muslim Saddam clique Not so likely after this.