The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page A01

FLYERS BEAT DEVILS, LEAD SERIES, 2-0 Esche shines, Timander nets game-winner. Sports, Dl. MASTERS OF SUSPENSE Phil Mickelson is tied for the lead entering today's final round at Augusta National. Sports, Dl. A special 14-page section provides a close-up look at Citizens Bank Park.

Hie IPftilaMpftia inquirer APRIL 11, 2004 $1 .75 in some locations outside the metropolitan area WWW.PHILLY.COM 175th Year, No. 316 Thousands voice grief, hope Killings of young people prompted a march through North Phila. The March to Save the Children, a gathering of people from different races, ages, and walks of life, began at Cecil B. Moore Park at 20th Street and Lehigh Avenue and ended in a rally outside Faheem's school, T.M. Peirce Elementary, at 23d and Cambria Streets.

LaTasha K. Blackston, 26, of North Philadelphia, pushed 14-month-old daughter Treasure's stroller through the thick crowd. "I'm here to give my daughter hope," Blackston said. See MARCH on A14 By Dwayne Campbell, Vernon Clark and Natalie Pompilio INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS They marched for Terrence Berry, 18, found dead Sept. 20 with a shotgun blast to the neck.

For Patricia Nicole Stallworth, 15, shot and stabbed on Sept. 23. And for Faheem Thomas-Childs, the third grader who died two months ago after being shot in the head just outside his elementary school. Yesterday, thousands of people jammed the streets of Faheem's North Philadelphia neighborhood, diverting traffic and drawing hundreds of onlookers in a march designed to wake up the city to the death of Faheem, Patricia, Terrence and 21 other Philadelphia school students who have been killed since September. Organizers put the turnout at 10,000, while police estimated it at 8,000.

"This is just so people can see our emotions," Terrence A. Berry said as he held up a photograph of his son, Terrence. 'We want people to look in our faces and see the pain." RON CORTES Inquirer Staff Photographer Samirror Gidding, 4, gets ready to join the March to Save the Children, which drew a crowd estimated at 8,000 to 1 0,000. Combat Rages in Iraq Memo of 801 told Bush of terrorists White House-released briefing details warnings of "attacks with explosives." By Ron Hutcheson INQUIRER WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON A top-secret briefing memo delivered to President Bush one month before the Sept. 11 attacks included information about suspected terrorist preparations for hijackings, surveillance of federal buildings in New York, and an anonymous tip that supporters of Osama bin Laden were in the United States "planning attacks with explosives." The memo, provided to Bush at his Texas ranch on Aug.

6, 2001, and released to the public yesterday by Unrest spread and scores died as cease-fires for a pilgrimage went ignored. By Matthew Schofield INQUIRER FOREIGN STAFF BAGHDAD At least three Americans and scores of Iraqis died in combat yesterday as Iraqi Government Council members worked feverishly to arrange cease-fires in both the Sunni-dominated center of the country and the Shiite-dominat-ed south. With hundreds of civilians dead at Fallujah inflaming Iraqi public opinion, the U.S. -led coalition and the insurgents agreed to a 12-hour cease-fire so that wounded civilians could be treated and others could leave the city. In the south, Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr pledged that his Mahdi Army militia would not launch attacks this weekend, in honor of a religious festival at Karbala that has drawn more than a million pilgrims.

Sadr's forces currently control Karbala and Najaf. Still, combat raged in both areas throughout the day amid signs that much of the country was outside the control of coalition forces. The day's dead included one Marine killed at Fallujah and another at nearby Ramadi. U.S. officials also said an airman died in a mortar attack at Balad, north of Baghdad.

A U.S. civilian was snatched by unidentified gunmen, his capture shown on Australian televi-See IRAQ on A8 Inside As violence flares, security contractors are retreating. A9. President Bush is struggling to keep his plan to spread democracy on course. A10.

Second Armored Cavalry Regiment members learn that their tour is extended. All. Amid unrest, progress also is under way. Currents, CI. the White House, did not include specific information pointing to the attacks that five weeks later destroyed the World Trade Center, damaged the Pentagon, and killed 3,000 people.

Even so, the highly unusual Inside The complete text of the Aug. 6, 2001 intelligence briefing to President Bush. A12. DAVID SWANSON Inquirer Staff Photographer Marines in Echo Company of the Second Battalion, Fourth Regiment, seek cover during a firefight in Ramadi, Iraq. They were ambushed during a search for an insurgent.

One Marine was killed; several were injured. 'I was waiting for the bullet' release of the once-classified document under pressure from the independent Sept. 11 commission seems certain to fuel criticism that Bush did not act aggressively enough in the summer of 2001 to head off terrorist attacks, as former White House counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke maintained in his new book and in public testimony last month. Some details from the memo including the gist of its title, "Bin Laden Determined to Strike In U.S." came to light during national security adviser Condoleezza Rice's testimony Thursday before the Sept. 11 commission.

The 113-page memo reported that U.S. intelligence See COMMISSION on A12 Inquirer staff photographer David Swanson, 39, has been on assignment in Iraq since early March. This is his account of a firefight yesterday in the embattled city of Ramadi. By David Swanson INQUIRER STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER RAMADI, Iraq The Marines of Second Battalion had been barging into houses for two hours, looking for an insurgent on their most-wanted list. I was with them, taking photographs.

We were turning the corner of a cinder block wall when we heard the pop, pop, pop of small-arms fire. Capt. Kelly Royer, of Echo Company, barked the order "Stand firm," which meant for everyone to get down on one knee and hold his position. Something jerked at my right arm. I thought the man behind me had tried to pull me down.

Then I realized I had been grazed by a bullet. See FIREFIGHT on A6 Today's Weather High 48, Low 42 Overcast and chilly, with some drizzle. Rain will taper off tonight; clouds will linger. Full report, B7. Marines return fire during fighting.

The battle ended after U.S. helicopters fired on Iraqis. The captain of Echo Company estimated that 40 Iraqis died. At 12, this genius of music, math and more is wowing 'em Kit Armstrong has been compared to the best musicians. This wunderMnd also speaks several languages and studies advanced math at Penn.

By Peter Dobrin INQUIRER MUSIC CRITIC Kit Armstrong isn't your average genius. True, at 12, he's the youngest student this year at the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music, playing the piano like an old master, already writing symphonies and string quartets. But his hands aren't yet big enough to comfortably reach an octave on the keyboard. Yes, he's taking classes in advanced mathematics at the Uni Sokoloff, 89, who has been molding young artists at the school for 68 years and admits to being particularly smitten with this one. "I've had a lot of children, but this one is different.

I mean, let's call him what he is: He's a genius." "He looks like a child, but he plays like a master," said Claude Frank, the esteemed pianist who is another of Kit's Curtis teachers. "His thinking about music-making is unbelievably mature. He has dis-See KIT on A15 versity of Pennsylvania. But he never graduated from high school. He ran out of courses that were age appropriate, his mother says.

Kit's towering talents in music and the ease with which he absorbs new concepts have led some to call him a latter-day Mozart, but his teachers dismiss that comparison with a wink. "Mozart didn't do math, and he didn't go to university when he was 9," said one of Kit's piano teachers at Curtis, Eleanor MICHAEL S. WIRTZ Inquirer Staff Photographer Kit and piano teacher Eleanor Sokoloff chat during a lesson. "I've had a lot of children, but this one is different," she says. Illl mi ii i mill ii ii ii ii ii ill 7 2004, Philadelphia Newspapers Inc.

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