Marines Seize Saddam Palace
Apr 07, 2003
BAGHDAD, Monday – US tanks and troops stormed into the heart of Baghdad on Monday and claimed control of three of Saddam Hussein’s palaces, including the main Tigris river compound that has come to symbolise his 24-year grip on power.
BAGHDAD, Monday – US tanks and troops stormed into the heart of Baghdad on Monday and claimed control of three of Saddam Hussein’s palaces, including the main Tigris river compound that has come to symbolise his 24-year grip on power.
In a lightning morning raid, more than 100 tanks and armoured vehicles pushed to the centre of his embattled capital city, now all but encircled by an iron ring of US firepower.
But the Pentagon insisted the “Battle of Baghdad†had yet to begin, and AFP correspondents said key nerve centres including the ministries of information and foreign affairs near the main palace remained under Iraqi control.
A spokesman at the US Central Command in Qatar, Navy Captain Frank Thorp, told Sky News that Monday was “just another day†and reiterated that US forces would continue to make only “deliberate†and carefully weighed moves on Baghdad.
Footage was broadcast by British television station Sky News of US troops walking around inside one of the palaces of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in Baghdad.
Sky News showed several US soldiers strolling through the compound and relaxing, bare-headed, in the compound’s grounds on the banks of the Tigris river.
One shot showed an ornate palace bathroom with gold-plated taps, a finely-worked ceiling, blue stained-glass windows, decorated with intricate flowery or calligraphy motifs, and an elaborately carved door.
Other footage from the television channel showed the compound’s entrance from above, with a monumental spiral staircase. A soldier is seen walking between two huge pillars under a chandelier as he leaves the compound.
Massive explosions roared across the sky as battling troops exchanged mortar and rocket-propelled grenades. Rocket fire was heard downtown for the first time since the war began on March 20.
“This does not represent the battle for Baghdad. What this is, is a powerful message that we can go where we want, when we want,†US Department of Defence spokesman Major Ben Owens said.
Two Bradley fighting vehicles could be seen on the grounds of Saddam’s cherished Republican Palace compound, already battered by weeks of coalition air strikes and covered in thick smoke.
Fuel trenches inside were set ablaze, belching out layers of smoke in an apparent Iraqi bid to hamper the vision of US forces, and an arms depot was on fire. Troops could be seen moving around the outside wall by the river.
Lieutenant Colonel Peter Bayer, operations officer for the US army’s 3rd Infantry Division, said US troops had “secured the main presidential palace†and another palace in the city centre as well as a third near the airport.
“There are two palaces (in the city centre), we own both of them,†Bayer said. He said they were captured by the division’s Second Brigade which sent two tank battalions and a mechanised infantry battalion, totalling some 65 tanks and 40 Bradley fighting vehicles, into the city.
Iraqi information minister Mohammad Said al-Sahhaf told reporters that US forces had been “repulsedâ€.
Heavy explosions had begun booming into the grey skies from around 6:15am (0215 GMT), apparently from artillery fire to the capital’s west — site of the international airport which was seized by US troops on Friday. As the fighting raged, the streets were all but deserted. Almost all central shops were closed and the station for buses out of Baghdad was empty.
Warplanes had flown over the city all night, sometimes at low altitude, without bombing any targets.
In a display of their increasing mastery of the Iraqi capital, US military authorities announced that a C-130 transport plane had touched down at the airport.
US troops were meanwhile moving to encircle Baghdad to prevent any escape from the city by its defenders. Major Ross Coffman said the 3rd Infantry Division had completed the western portion of the encirclement and was waiting for US marines to close the door from the east.
After completing a 70-kilometre (40-mile) drive, the army controlled a semi-circle around Baghdad.
Ends
In a lightning morning raid, more than 100 tanks and armoured vehicles pushed to the centre of his embattled capital city, now all but encircled by an iron ring of US firepower.
But the Pentagon insisted the “Battle of Baghdad†had yet to begin, and AFP correspondents said key nerve centres including the ministries of information and foreign affairs near the main palace remained under Iraqi control.
A spokesman at the US Central Command in Qatar, Navy Captain Frank Thorp, told Sky News that Monday was “just another day†and reiterated that US forces would continue to make only “deliberate†and carefully weighed moves on Baghdad.
Footage was broadcast by British television station Sky News of US troops walking around inside one of the palaces of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in Baghdad.
Sky News showed several US soldiers strolling through the compound and relaxing, bare-headed, in the compound’s grounds on the banks of the Tigris river.
One shot showed an ornate palace bathroom with gold-plated taps, a finely-worked ceiling, blue stained-glass windows, decorated with intricate flowery or calligraphy motifs, and an elaborately carved door.
Other footage from the television channel showed the compound’s entrance from above, with a monumental spiral staircase. A soldier is seen walking between two huge pillars under a chandelier as he leaves the compound.
Massive explosions roared across the sky as battling troops exchanged mortar and rocket-propelled grenades. Rocket fire was heard downtown for the first time since the war began on March 20.
“This does not represent the battle for Baghdad. What this is, is a powerful message that we can go where we want, when we want,†US Department of Defence spokesman Major Ben Owens said.
Two Bradley fighting vehicles could be seen on the grounds of Saddam’s cherished Republican Palace compound, already battered by weeks of coalition air strikes and covered in thick smoke.
Fuel trenches inside were set ablaze, belching out layers of smoke in an apparent Iraqi bid to hamper the vision of US forces, and an arms depot was on fire. Troops could be seen moving around the outside wall by the river.
Lieutenant Colonel Peter Bayer, operations officer for the US army’s 3rd Infantry Division, said US troops had “secured the main presidential palace†and another palace in the city centre as well as a third near the airport.
“There are two palaces (in the city centre), we own both of them,†Bayer said. He said they were captured by the division’s Second Brigade which sent two tank battalions and a mechanised infantry battalion, totalling some 65 tanks and 40 Bradley fighting vehicles, into the city.
Iraqi information minister Mohammad Said al-Sahhaf told reporters that US forces had been “repulsedâ€.
Heavy explosions had begun booming into the grey skies from around 6:15am (0215 GMT), apparently from artillery fire to the capital’s west — site of the international airport which was seized by US troops on Friday. As the fighting raged, the streets were all but deserted. Almost all central shops were closed and the station for buses out of Baghdad was empty.
Warplanes had flown over the city all night, sometimes at low altitude, without bombing any targets.
In a display of their increasing mastery of the Iraqi capital, US military authorities announced that a C-130 transport plane had touched down at the airport.
US troops were meanwhile moving to encircle Baghdad to prevent any escape from the city by its defenders. Major Ross Coffman said the 3rd Infantry Division had completed the western portion of the encirclement and was waiting for US marines to close the door from the east.
After completing a 70-kilometre (40-mile) drive, the army controlled a semi-circle around Baghdad.
Ends