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| Saddam statue toppled in Baghdad amid looting, anarchy |
| CCTV.COM 2003-04-10 09:04:32 |
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 A bronze statue of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein standing in Baghdad's al－Fardus （paradise） Square was toppled on Wednesday afternoon amid looting and anarchy in the city.
At around 4:30 p.m. （1230 GMT）, a column of US tanks and armored personnel carriers entered the square with Saddam's statue standing in the middle.
After dozens of Iraqi men failed to pull down the statue, marines attached a crane to secure a chain round the statue's neck and backed up to pull it over from its 7.5－meter cement pedestal. The statue, with Saddam's right hand in a gesture of waving farewell, hung on in horizontal position for a few seconds before another tug finally brought it to the ground.
A group of Iraqis jumped on the fallen figure, shouting with joy and venting their anger by breaking it into pieces. One US marine put a US flag over Saddam's face as the chain was fastened on the statue, but he soon replaced it with an Iraqi flag as a scarf before that too was taken away.
Amid signs of crumbling government rule, looters ransacked government buildings in the capital Wednesday morning while many residents came out to cheer US troops.
Crowds of looters stormed various government buildings in the city center to steal everything from furniture to computers. The government buildings plundered included the Olympic headquarters, the Oil Marketing Co., Trade Ministry and traffic police headquarters.
Most residents kept away from the streets as the rising sense of insecurity gripped the city with the rule of government collapsing, Xinhua reporter Jamal Ahmed said.
 In the Saddam City in northeastern Baghdad, hundreds of Iraqis took to the streets to joyously cheer the heavily armed US Marines driving through.
Some took the chance to vent anger at the government by smashing a portrait of President Saddam Hussein, whose whereabouts remained unknown since Monday.
Iraq's official radio and television have fallen silent since Tuesday.
Nothing has been heard from Saddam since a US bomber on Monday struck the al－Mansur residential neighborhood believed to be frequented by the Iraqi leader and his two sons. At the headquarters of the US Central Command in Doha, Qatar, US army spokesman Mark Kitchens said he was "heartened to see citizens of Baghdad are taking to the streets to celebrate their freedom."
The US troops are making steady advance in Baghdad Wednesday after the calmest night since the war began on March 20. Only sporadic shelling and gunfire rang out after the daybreak as more US troops moved in Baghdad to expand their control of the city of 5 million people.
US tanks and armored personnel carriers moved block by block through the urban sprawl of neighborhoods, squeezing out pockets of Iraqi resistance on their way.
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Editor: Yang Feiyang Source:xinhuanet
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