A group of about 15 to 20 men were working to start the engine under the lifted hood of the luxury car while another sat ready in the driver's seat.

The minister, Rassul Abd al-Hussein Sawadi, was nowhere in sight.

Earlier in the day, citizens rampaged through both the irrigation and interior ministries in the north of the capital, taking anything they could carry.

People also broke into shops and homes in Saddam City, a Shiite Muslim bastion in the northeast of the capital, stealing furniture, food, electrical equipment and carpets.

SPACE.WIRE