United States forces are in complete control of the Saddam International Airport, 20km from the centre of Baghdad, BBC quoted American officials as saying on Friday morning [India time].

The report came hours after Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Said al-Sahhaf's said that the US forces were nowhere near Baghdad.

On Thursday, the capital suffered a blackout for the first time since the US attack began even as aerial bombardment continued.

In Washington, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said, "They are closer to the centre of the Iraqi capital than many American commuters are to their downtown businesses."