The media increasingly came under fire in the urban fighting, with a correspondent for the Arabic network Al-Jazeera killed and the hotel housing most foreign journalists hit, wounding at least five people.

Two US Abrams tanks rolled out of the northern entrance of the presidential palace compound, which US forces raided the day before, and took up position on the adjacent Al-Jumhuriya bridge.

That sparked the first exchange of fire between US forces and Iraqis holed up on the east bank of the Tigris.

In a sign of increasing US confidence in Baghdad, two US Apache attack helicopters flew over the center of the city for the first time Tuesday morning, braving Iraqi anti-aircraft fire.

Warplanes also attacked the massive Republican Palace on the west bank of the river at least twice before fighting inside the compound broke out just before 5:00 a.m. (0100 GMT).

The complex, symbol of Saddam's 24-year iron-fist rule, has been pounded relentlessly since the United States and Britain launched the war March 20 aimed at toppling the Iraqi leader.

For the first time, a US air force A10 "tank killer" plane attacked the Republican Palace, swooping down twice at a very low altitude on the northern entrance of the compound and the nearby planning ministry.

It returned to open fire a third time on an area beyond the planning ministry, apparently on a road leading to the information ministry.

The A10 released decoy flares against missiles as it rose in the sky after each pass.

But the US military later confirmed that an A10 had gone down near Saddam International Airport, southwest of the city.

The plane went down at about 10:15 am (0615 GMT), US Central Command announced without disclosing the causes of the crash.

"The pilot ejected safely from the aircraft and was recovered by coalition ground forces near the airport," it said.

Information Minister Mohammad Said al-Sahhaf said the Iraqis had "imprisoned" US forces inside their tanks.

"They are going to surrender or be burned in their tanks," Sahhaf said when asked if it was not time for Baghdad to give up.

He was speaking outside the Palestine Hotel housing journalists minutes after it came under bombardment.

A journalist, photographer and a cameraman for the British news agency Reuters were wounded when their office on the 15th floor of the hotel was hit.

Jose Couso, of Spanish private network Telecinco, was wounded in the leg and jaw, the television station said.

Windows were also blown out on the 17th floor of the hotel where the Dubai-based television channel Al-Arabiya has an office.

Elsewhere in Baghdad, the correspondent of Qatar-based Al-Jazeera, Tareq Ayub, a 34-year-old Jordanian of Palestinian origin, died after the station's office was hit by a missile.

The network accused the US military of "deliberately targetting" its office, a claim denied by a spokeswoman at US Central Command.

Rival satellite station Abu Dhabi TV announced its Baghdad bureau had also been hit Tuesday in a live report showing a camera position under attack.

Iraq's state-run television, meanwhile, went off the air around 10:30 am (0630 GMT).

Baghdad's satellite television channel went down on Sunday night and Youth television, run by President Saddam Hussein's elder son Uday, has failed to broadcast since a missile struck the information ministry at the end of March.

US officials have charged that the television -- known for its incessant victory speeches and denial of any coalition advances -- has been a key factor in preserving Saddam's control.

There was new speculation on Saddam's fate, as a US official in Washington said a building hit Monday in Baghdad's al-Mansur district could have been housing the Iraqi leader and his two sons, Uday and Qusay.

"Obviously we hope that some part of the leadership was taken out of action, but we don't know at this point who might have been there at the time the ordnance arrived," said the anonymous official in Washington.

A US Central Command spokesman in Qatar said four satellite-guided Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) bombs were dropped.

In Baghdad, witnesses reported that at least 14 civilians were killed when a bomb crashed into al-Mansur, a residential area.

The explosion left a crater eight meters (26 feet) deep and 15 meters wide and destroyed four houses at about 3:00 pm (1100 GMT).

Rubble lay strewn over the sidewalk, notably in front of the al-Sa'ah restaurant where Saddam made a defiant public appearance Friday after US troops captured Saddam International Airport southwest of the capital.

Monday's strike marked the second time US forces sought to "decapitate" the Iraqi leadership based on intelligence.

On the war's opening night on March 20, US F-117 stealth fighters struck a Baghdad compound where Saddam and several senior members of his inner circle were believed to be gathered.

SPACE.WIRE