Saddam's last bastion 'on brink of collapse'

The final stronghold of Saddam Hussein’s regime appeared tonight to be on the verge of falling to allied forces.

US Marines moved in to Tikrit, Saddam’s tribal home, and also rescued seven American prisoners of war abandoned by their Iraqi captors.

The marines were initially unopposed but later there were reports of US forces, including F-18 jets and Cobra helicopters, taking on Iraqi tanks south of the city.

The Commander of US forces in the Gulf General Tommy Franks said: “I wouldn’t say it’s over but I will say we have American forces in Tikrit right now.

“When last I checked this force was moving on Tikrit and there was not any resistance but I think we would be premature to say well, gosh, it’s all done, it’s all finished.”

The allied assault on Tikrit was made by “Taskforce Tripoli” which consisted of several thousand marines from the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force moving north from Baghdad.

As they passed Samarrah, 70 miles north of the capital, they discovered the seven prisoners of war.

Matthew Fisher, a reporter for the National Post of Canada, who witnessed the scene, said: “An Iraqi came over and said they must have come to get the prisoners and that he had nothing to do with it.

“The marines were astonished and went to fetch the prisoners.”

They were dressed in pyjama-style clothes – the only woman prisoner was wearing a Hawaiian shirt.

She had been shot twice and one of the men had been shot once.

General Franks said: “Someone came along towards our marines and told them they were going to come in contact with some Americans along the road.

“The tip came from an Iraqi and I believe our guys picked them up on the road.”

They were taken in ambulances to an airfield 50 miles south of Baghdad and all walked on to a C-130 transport plane to Kuwait.

As footage of them was shown on television Ronald Young Sr recognised his son, Chief Warrant Officer Ronald D Young Jr, whose Apache helicopter went down March 23.

“It’s him, and I’m just so happy that I could kiss the world!” he said.

Some of the other soldiers were recognised by their families as those from the US Army’s 507 Maintenance Unit who were paraded on Iraqi television after being ambushed.

Private Jessica Lynch, 19, from the same ambushed unit, was spectacularly rescued by US special forces in Nasiriyah on April 1.

The freed POWs were applauded by marines as they boarded the plane.

Following their release the move on Tikrit continued. The taskforce, under Brigadier General John Kelly, included 300 armoured vehicles which moved quickly across the plains north of Baghdad.

The Marines are expected to encircle the city and give the option of surrender.

That option will not be lengthy, though, and resisting forces will be destroyed, a military source said.

“We believe Republican Guard and Special Republican Guard units have moved in to Tikrit,” he said.

On the way north from Baghdad some of the marines discovered forces loyal to Saddam at Baquba, 25 miles from the capital and destroyed them.

The much-vaunted 30,000-strong US 4th Infantry Division – dubbed the “digital division” because of its hi-tech command and control system – has also been moving north from Kuwait for at least a day and is thought to be advancing on Tikrit.

A military official refused to confirm their objective but said: “They are on the move“.