http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=252741

No U.S. troops seen in Baghdad

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - No U.S. troops were visible during a tour by a Reuters correspondent of central and southern Baghdad despite U.S. reports that their forces are pushing into the heart of the capital.

"I went to the southern outskirts, south east, south west, the presidential palaces, the main security buildings," correspondent Khaled Yacoub Oweis said after driving around the city. "I saw no American troops."

He said that Iraqi soldiers and paramilitaries were preparing for war in the capital and that heavy artillery fire could be heard.

Earlier, a U.S. military spokesman said their forces had thrust into the heart of Baghdad and said the push was "more than a patrol that goes in and comes back out".