THE vast lawns, portico and grand entrance hall were eerily quiet and empty. No one appeared in the windows. No one was there to smell the rows of pale yellow roses.

INTERNATIONAL inspectors arrived at one of Saddam Hussein’s presidential palaces yesterday and demanded and received quick entry, in an early test of new powers to hunt for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

The vast lawns, portico and grand entrance hall were eerily quiet and empty. No one appeared in the windows. No one was there to smell the rows of pale yellow roses.