Saddam's hometown palace ruined and plundered

9.00pm

TIKRIT - Saddam Hussein's vast palace complex in Tikrit -- his hometown and powerbase during decades of brutal rule -- lies in ruins, shattered by US bombs, occupied by Marines and plundered by looters.

US soldiers and crowds of Iraqi scavengers descended on the palace by the banks of the Tigris river on Monday after Tikrit, the last major stronghold of Saddam's forces, fell to an attack by Marines backed up by warplanes and attack helicopters.

In the lush palm gardens around the opulent sandstone buildings, Marines washed, shaved and used the flowerbeds as toilets. Awestruck Iraqis wandered through the grounds and hunted for booty to steal from their deposed leader. One man in a dusty robe dragged off a stolen chandelier in a sack.

Twisted metal and rubble were littered around the main palace building, which was targeted by several US air raids during the war. Inside, behind the palace's large wooden doors, was a scene of devastation.

Parts of the palace had collapsed, and smashed blocks of concrete from upper storeys were piled on the patterned marble floor. Some chandeliers also lay shattered on the ground, while others still hung precariously from the ceiling.

A film of grey dust covered every surface.

No furniture was left in the main palace, but there were still pickings for looters in other parts of the compound.

In one villa, with walls of white and rose-coloured marble, sheets were still laid on a bed. On low marble tables in the villa were parts of a chess set, and a volume of poetry.

In one bathroom was a large red-enamel jacuzzi.

The sprawling palace complex, one of dozens Saddam had around Iraq but special because this is the town of his childhood, stands incongruously in Tikrit, a dusty town of grey one-storey buildings. Saddam was born in a village nearby.

His concentration of power among his closest family, and distrust of most people outside his Albu Nasir tribe, meant Tikritis formed the backbone of his most loyal military forces.

People named 'al-Tikriti' (of Tikrit) pepper a US list of the most wanted.

Among the modest houses and shops that make up most of the town, a spectacular sandstone mosque towers over the rooftops.

The statues and portraits of Saddam in Tikrit are untouched -- unlike elsewhere in Iraq where many have been vandalised.

The town was strangely quiet on Monday, with few people on the streets and no sign of the Iraqi forces who had been expected to defend Saddam's last bastion.

In villages outside Tikrit stood abandoned Iraqi tanks. Locals said many Iraqi troops had fled weeks ago, and others left in the last week as US forces took Baghdad.

Planes flew over the town, but the sporadic fighting of the last two days seemed to be largely over.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq war