Brigadier Vincent Brooks said the latest thrust by US forces into the heart of Baghdad "reinforces the reality that the regime is not in control of all of the major city."

He told a press briefing here at US Central Command's forward planning base that raids carried out Monday by US forces on two of President Saddam Hussein's palaces did not lead to the capture of key regime leaders but were nonetheless significant.

"While some of these attacks that you saw today did not turn up individuals, they may well turn up information," he said.

"They certainly show that the regime does not control these areas."

Brooks warned that while the Iraqi leadership was imperilled, it was still a threat.

Though the regime's "structure of control ... has been significantly degraded, that doesn't mean there's an elimination completely of all threats. So we continue with our efforts to find them, remove them," he said.

US forces earlier Monday stormed into the heart of Baghdad, entering two of Saddam Hussein's palaces, including the main riverside complex that has come to symbolise his 24-year iron grip on power in Iraq.

US commanders insisted the assault was only a "raid through the city" and not the beginning of an all-out battle for control of Baghdad, one of the last prizes in the US-led coalition's war to topple Saddam and his inner circle.

Brooks acknowledged that "there are places of resistance in and around Baghdad," adding that "there are some parts of the city" that are not in the hands of US forces.

Explaining the scope of the latest figting, he told reporters that marines from the First Expedtionary Force are "isolating Baghdad from the east along the Dyala River and with the (US Army's) Fifth Corps operating in the west, the northwest and into the town of Baghdad, the city of Baghdad.

"To the northwest, the attacks prevented reinforcements of Iraqi forces north of the city and resulted in the destruction of an Iraqi unit composed of tanks, armoured personnel carriers, other armoured vehicles, artillery systems and infantry."

SPACE.WIRE