New dawn for Iraq as Saddam's regime collapses

Iraq was waking up to a future free of Saddam Hussein today while US forces continued to tighten their grip on the capital Baghdad.

Despite renewed firefights between American troops and fighters still loyal to the ousted leader, US Marines were free to move about much of the city unresisted.

London and Washington, however, avoided claiming victory, warning that troops still faced tough fighting ahead.

There were still pockets of Iraqi resistance in Baghdad and loud explosions were reported in the north and west of the capital at sunrise as B-52 bombers flew overhead.

The fate of Saddam was still unknown, prompting speculation that he was dead, in hiding, or had fled to neighbouring Syria.

One theory was that he had escaped to his hometown of Tikrit, north of Baghdad, where Republican Guard fighters were still holed up.

The area came under sustained bombing overnight and US forces were expected to turn their attention on the city amid reports that Saddam loyalists were retreating there.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi Ambassador to the UN, Mohammed Al-Douri, declared “the game is over”, becoming the first Iraqi official to concede defeat.

Speaking outside his New York residence he said: “My work now is peace. The game is over, and I hope the peace will prevail.”

Yesterday jubilant Iraqis danced upon a toppled statue of Saddam Hussein amid astonishing scenes of celebration.

People oppressed by Saddam took to the streets to celebrate and vent their anger against symbols of a regime which has ruled Iraq for almost a quarter of a century.

As US troops headed for the heart of the city, just 21 days after the war began, Iraqi officials vanished or “quietly shredded their identity cards”, police deserted the streets and military opposition all but vanished.

At first slowly, but then in waves, the people took over, mingling happily with US Marines, looting from official buildings and attacking any symbol of Saddam they could find.

One man was shown on TV around the globe hitting a poster of the dictator with his shoe – a serious insult in the Arab world.

“Come see, this is freedom ... this is the criminal, this is the infidel,” he said.

“This is the destiny of every traitor ... he killed millions of us. Oh people, this is freedom.”

After US marines helped topple a huge city centre statue – erected less than a year ago to mark Saddam’s birthday – the shoes came off again as cheering crowds swarmed over their president’s image.

President Bush was said to be pleased with the military progress in Iraq, but he cautioned that great danger could still lie ahead, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said.

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld added: “There’s a lot of work left to do.”

US Vice President Dick Cheney was more outspoken, praising the military campaign and taking a swipe at “retired military officers embedded in TV studios” who had criticised the war plan.

The whereabouts of Saddam were still unknown, but special forces were searching the site of a restaurant which was bombed on Monday after reports that he had been spotted there.

“We may have got him. We just don’t know. It’s clear that nobody’s in charge, that nobody’s getting any direction,” said one official. “He’s gone way underground, literally or figuratively.”

Meanwhile, Britain's Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was today meeting his Kuwaiti counterpart in London today for talks on post-war Iraq.

Mr Straw was expected to discuss what role the Arab nation and western ally would play in the reconstruction of its neighbour with Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah.

Last night he insisted that British forces would not stay in Iraq “a day longer than is necessary”.

And as thoughts started to turn to reconstruction of Iraq, Ahmad Chalabi, leader of the exile Iraqi National Congress, urged the US led interim administration to move to Iraq from the Kuwait City hotel where it has been working on plans to run the country.

He said: “The US troops have defeated Saddam militarily. That was never a problem. The issue is the Baath party and the remnants of the Baath party who will continue to pose a threat. And those people will continue to have some influence as long as there is no electricity, no security and no water.”