Anarchy as Saddam's regime collapses

Day 21: Looting of government buildings in Baghdad; police and regime leaders disappear; US troops take control of city centre; local leader appointed to take leadership of Basra; US bombs Tikrit, home powerbase of Saddam

Saddam Hussein's regime lost its once iron grip over large swathes of the Iraq today as hundreds of looting civilians cheered and danced in the streets in large parts of Baghdad.

Government offices, shops and the UN building in the capital were being raided by civilians who took away furniture and food. Civilians were pictured cheering and giving "victory" signs to foreign TV cameras - although other streets remained deserted amid sounds of sporadic gunfire.

The overriding image, however, was of men, women and children running and dancing apparently unrestricted by any of Saddam's police or soldiers - carrying looted chairs, sacks of grain and other supplies on their backs.

One elderly man tore down a picture of Saddam Hussein wearing his trademark military beret and sunglasses. In the street, he took off his sandal and used it to beat the image of the dictator's face, while others ran at the picture and kicked it.

At US Central Command in Qatar, Navy Lt. Mark Kitchens acknowledged that looting could be a problem in Baghdad. "It is certainly something we discourage, and when and where we can make a difference we will certainly try to do so."

But he said the scenes of Iraqis celebrating were encouraging, adding: "Cautiously optimistic is the term I would use to describe the mood. All of us have come to expect the absolute worst behaviour from this dying regime, so it's important to remember that tough fighting may lie ahead."

Meanwhile, there were reports of further bombing in Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's home town north of the capital where it is thought he may have fled, if he is still alive.

First reports that Iraqi civilians were showing their defiance of the regime came from Saddam City, a poor Shiite district in the east of the capital. Iraq's Shiites have suffered persecution at the hands of Saddam's regime. Hundreds of Iraqis cheered, danced and threw flowers as US Marines advanced through the district.

But the open defiance by people who finally dared to believe that Saddam's reign of terror may be over rapidly spread around the city. TV pictures showed looters emerging from official buildings in the centre of Baghdad clutching furniture, fridges - anything they could carry.

Journalists also reported that their regime "minders" did not appear this morning. And for once the Iraqi information minister Mohammad Said al-Sahhaf did not appear to insist the regime would triumph.

The dramatic development came after US forces made rapid progress through various points of the city.

Marines seized the strategic Rasheed Airport in the east of the city last night and captured enough ammunition for an estimated 3,000 troops. They also took a prison where they found US Army uniforms and chemical weapons suits possibly belonging to American PoWs.

Other troops discovered a 12-room complex inside a cave, complete with white marble floors and fluorescent lighting.

Still waiting: The world was still anxious for news about whether Saddam Hussein and his two sons were dead or alive following an allied "decapitation" strike on Monday.

They were believed to have been meeting in a bunker under the al-Saa restaurant in the al-Mansour area of Baghdad when the building was reduced to rubble by four 2,000lb JDAM "bunker busting" bombs.

George Bush said yesterday: "I don't know if he survived - the only thing I know is he is losing power."

But MI6 reportedly told the CIA that it believed Saddam had left the building moments before the atttack.

In the north of the country US special forces and Kurdish peshmerga fighters seized a strategic hilltop near the major Iraqi-held city of Mosul early today.

But coalition rescue teams were searching for the two-man crew of an American fighter jet downed near the northern Iraqi stronghold of Tikrit, the home town of Saddam Hussein, a possible bolthole should choose to flee the capital.

In the south British forces have appointed a local sheikh to take leadership of Basra, where looting threatened to run out of control. Militarily, they were consolidating new positions around Basra following their furthest incursion north.

Officials said the 1st Battalion Royal Irish Regiment had reached Al Qurnah - said to be the site of the biblical Garden of Eden and the birthplace of mankind - after crossing the River Euphrates.

The troops were welcomed by cheering crowds of local people in the area, populated by Ma'dan, marsh Arabs who have suffered genocide at the hands of Saddam Hussein.

Meanwhile, British forces in Iraq's second city were continuing efforts to restore law and order after impoverished Iraqis ripped apart the city's buildings during chaotic scenes of looting.