U.S. PARATROOPERS PREPARE THEIR EQUIPMENT IN HARIR, 2003-03-27 (photo)

A still image taken off television shows taffic passing U.S. soldiers preparing their equipment near Harir airfield, 75 km (45 miles) northeast of the Kurdish city of Arbil March 27, 2003. U.S. troops parachuted into Iraqi mountains held by their Kurdish allies on Thursday to open what could be a vital new front in the week-old war to get rid of President Saddam Hussein. "This is the beginning of the northern front," a U.S. defence official said after 1,000 paratroopers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade jumped into northern Iraq before dawn. REUTERS TELEVISION jdp