"Tanks have gone into Baghdad to make it clear to the people that whatever the (Iraqi) regime may say, the coalition forces are advancing and there is a determination to see the job through," the spokesman said.

"It is clear that elements of the Republican Guard have suffered a comprehensive defeat with very heavy losses and a number of desertions," he said, without specifying which units he was referring to.

Though the war is not yet over, he said, Iraqis are becoming "increasingly confident" that President Saddam Hussein's regime is collapsing, "and the reception we are getting is warmer by the day."

"The fear factor is receding. People are letting themselves hope that the days of Saddam are over and that life will get better," he said.

The Republican Guard, regarded as the section of the Iraqi armed forces most loyal to Saddam, had been deployed in three divisions to defend Baghdad from advancing US forces.

Britain, the United States' main ally in the war that began March 20, has its troops concentrated in southern Iraq.

The Downing Street spokesman, reading a statement to AFP, claimed that Saddam's regime was "confounded by the speed of the advance and the manoeuverability and flexibility of the coalition."

"There are real signs of pressure building up within the leadership," he added. "But all that said, we know there is still a job of work to be done, and we will do it."

SPACE.WIRE