BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the military conflict. We talked about Tommy Franks being in Cairo today, the head of Central Command in the Persian Gulf region meeting with U.S. allies. A bit later this week, he'll be in Qatar. Meanwhile, U.S. officials say there is evidence that Iraqi forces have placed explosives in northern Iraqi oil fields. That charge, Iraq says, is ridiculous. To the Pentagon this morning, Barbara Starr watching all of these developments and more. Barbara -- good morning.</s>BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill. Well, indeed, General Tommy Franks, the man who would run any war against Iraq, is on the road. He is in the Persian Gulf-Middle East region today, and yes, his first stop is Cairo. He has already met, we are told, with Egyptian President Mubarak. He will be having a press conference in Cairo. We hope to bring you details of that a little bit later this morning. And then he does go on to the Persian Gulf region. Tommy Franks travels out to this area quite often, but now as war, the possibility of war looms closer, the question is whether he will even return to the United States one more time, or whether he simply will go to Qatar and activate his headquarters there and begin to operate out of Qatar if the president orders military action. Now, on the other subject, U.S. officials have told us that indeed they now do see signs that Iraq has placed explosives in its northern oil fields near Kirkuk. This is an area that is quite close to the Kurdish area of Iraq. A lot of concern that the Kurds might try and take over those oil fields if there is war. This now a very clear sign from Saddam Hussein's government they don't intend to let that happen. U.S. officials watching all of that very closely -- Bill.</s>HEMMER: All right, Barbara Starr at the Pentagon this morning watching the latest for us there.
U.S.: There is Evidence Iraq Put Explosives in Oil Fields