Downfall

It may only have been a statue that fell, one of thousands in the dictator's honour scattered all over Iraq, but it was in the centre of his capital city and it was on live television, beamed around the world to presidents and paupers alike.

It was a hugely visible message from Baghdad telling of the downfall of a despot and the end of a regime. It was a moment of history reminiscent of the fall of the Berlin Wall. It showed that the war was all over - bar the difficult and dangerous mopping up.

Amazingly in a conflict in which civilians and conscripts have paid a heavy, bloody price, Saddam was toppled with barely a gun fired in anger.

Only 21 days after the war began, US troops began flooding into the city yesterday morning from all directions. They met little resistance. Saddam's regime had simply melted away overnight, officials vanishing and soldiers stepping back into civilian clothes.

Cautiously at first, the residents emerged from their homes to watch the invaders arrive. Plucking up courage, they began to welcome them as friends, and then cheer them as heroes. By mid-morning in Saddam City - a poor area - they were, quite honestly, singing and dancing in the streets of Baghdad.

Residents of the city centre converged upon Shahid (or Paradise) Square where last year Saddam erected a huge bronze statue of himself to celebrate his 65th birthday.

It was 40ft high, with Saddam's right arm extending warmly to accept the acclamation of an imaginary crowd. But to the people of Baghdad who lived in its shadow, it was a reminder of how he dominated them, of how he watched over their every move and thought.

Early yesterday afternoon, a large man in a grey vest arrived in the Square carrying a sledgehammer. He swung it with as much force as he could muster, and smashed it into the statue. It did little damage - but the crowd cheered and applauded.

The hammer passed from man to man, each delivering a mighty blow. Chunks of stone started tumbling from the 20ft plinth. The chanting bystanders clapped in time with the blows, as other members of the crowd hit the statue with the soles of their shoes - the severest of Arab insults.

Some civilians found a rope and tied it in a noose. They climbed up a ladder and hung it around the statue's neck. But even though they pulled on the rope, Saddam steadfastly stood over them.

The US sent in a M-88 tank recovery vehicle and extended its A-frame to Saddam's neck. Marines scrambled up and tied a wire to Saddam's legs. They draped their Stars and Stripes flag over his head - a gesture that was welcomed in the Square but greeted with outrage in the watching Arab world.

Then the vehicle, with Iraqis clinging to its sides, reversed. Saddam wobbled uncertainly. A few more revs and his legs began to break and then, finally, he fell.

Disappointingly, he did not smash to the floor. Instead he got stuck horizontally halfway, neither up nor down, with the fingertips of his outstretched hand grazing the ground.

A couple more jerks from the M-88 and Saddam was removed from his pedestal. His head hit the ground first as he disappeared in a shower of rocks, twigs, slippers and shoes, thrown by the crowd as they rushed forward. They danced on his body shouting: "Oh Iraq! We sacrifice our lives and our blood for you!"

A group of men battered his face with sledgehammers and cried: "Hit the eye! Hit the eye!"

As of that moment, the world knew that Saddam Hussein would no longer be watching over Iraqis. Last night, he was in hiding - the one who once cowed his people, now cowering away from them. Not even his ludicrous Minister of Information, Mohammed Saheed al-Sahaf, made an appearance to dismiss the day's events.

But they could not be dismissed. It was the day that Saddam fell.

Last night Iraq's UN Ambassador Mohammed al-Douri said in New York: "The game is over. Let peace prevail . . . the war is over."