US tanks and troops poured into the heart of Baghdad amid scenes of jubilation yesterday as Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's regime collapsed under a blistering three-week onslaught.
US forces met little Iraqi resistance as they took over swathes of the city, with looting erupting as it became clear that Saddam's 24-year stranglehold on the Iraqi people was disintegrating.
Tanks rolled into the heart of the city, with US soldiers helping jubilant Iraqis tear down a giant statue of Saddam in the Al-Fardus (Paradise) Square.
They slung a thick rope noose around the Iraqi leader's neck, and controversially briefly draped the Stars and Stripes over his head.
Civilians queued up to hammer blow after blow into the plinth supporting the statue, while nearby soldiers chatted to journalists, the hatches of their tanks open, although other Marines on foot took up precautionary positions.
"The reception by the Iraqis was very warm and this was a big surprise to us. People are very nice," Staff Sergeant Daniel Attilio said.
US troops spread through the city to crush remaining pockets of resistance, facing snipers and isolated units prepared to make a last stand.
"Good, Good, Bush!" chanted cheering crowds in a northern district of Baghdad as a US Marine convoy passed by, as elsewhere angry crowds defaced and destroyed symbols of Saddam's regime.
US President George W. Bush was said by an administration official to be pleased with progress in the campaign, while Vice President Dick Cheney warned that "hard fighting" could lie ahead.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Washington's staunchest ally in the three-week-old war to wrench power from Saddam, warned: "This conflict is not, however, over yet."
Mystery still surrounds the fate of Saddam, who it is thought may try to make a last stand at his home-town of Tikrit north of Baghdad.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Saddam had "missed his chance" to go peacefully into exile, hinting the administration believed the Iraqi leader still to be alive. "We still don't know his fate."
A spokesman for Blair said Iraq's command and control structure appeared to have broken down in Baghdad, adding that scenes of chaos and looting in the capital "tell their own story."
But he warned resistance to advancing US troops could still be quite "stubborn and fierce" after days of bloody fighting to wrest control of the capital of 5 million people, now largely deserted by pro-regime forces.
In the streets of Baghdad, people dared to utter the words "Traitor!" "Torturer!" "Dictator!" in reference to Saddam.
"We're ecstatic to get rid of him after all these years of war and deprivation," said Dinkha Khosina, joining hundreds of Iraqis to greet US troops racing from Baghdad's northern entrance to the heart of the capital.
"Welcome, welcome!" Baghdadis cried out in English, as young people took off their T-shirts and waved them in joy in front of the US soldiers.
"This is the greatest feeling I've had in my life, after spending 11 years in military service because of all the wars Saddam has put us through," said Ayub, who did not want his family name used.
In Saddam City, Baghdad's teeming Shiite suburb, people were seen breaking into shops and homes to steal furniture, food, electrical equipment and carpets.
In the north of the capital, citizens rampaged through the interior and irrigation ministries, gutting the offices, reporters said, while symbols of Saddam's iron grip on the country took the brunt of people's anger.
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