Hundreds of Iraqis massed to see their first Americans, waving to greet a convoy of seven armored vehicles coated with sand and carrying marines through the Hababiyah district in northern Baghdad.

To chants of "Good America" and a sea of hands flashing the "V" for victory sign, one resident marched up to the heavily-armed troops with a symbolic peace offering in his hand.

"I couldn't find flowers so I brought you a palm leaf," explained the man wearing a traditional galabiyah gown.

A group tried to approach the troops for a better glimpse or a handshake but the still-wary troops kept them from coming too close. They were nevertheless visibly relieved to see smiling faces.

"I never expected to see myself in Baghdad and I never expected such a warm welcome," Sergeant Grant Zaidz said later in downtown Baghdad.

"We did not face any resistance whatsoever today. We just strolled in," said the 20-year-old from Oregon, referring to his unit.

Anything that even resembled an American got a hearty cheer from the crowd.

An AFP journalist and photographer wearing bulletproof vests and white helmets were greeted in Hababiyah with a warm handshakes and cries of "Affiyeh, Affiyeh!" (Bravo!), once a favourite cry of Saddam.

Youths let out pent-up rage on a giant poster of Saddam Hussein dressed in a checkered keffiyeh headscarf, butchering the image with knives and screwdrivers as old men beat it with their shoes, a prime insult in Iraq.

"No good Saddam. Very bad, very bad, very bad," they said in halting but clear English.

"Today, we are very, very happy. It is a great day. Saddam is finished. Do you know where he is? Is he dead? He will burn in hell," said a man holding his young child in his arms.

At dusk, US marines sent a towering bronze statue of Saddam crashing to the ground amid loud cheers and riotous scenes on a central Baghdad square. Young men danced on the shattered remains.

Meanwhile in northern districts, the destruction continued with young men picking an Iraqi supply truck clean, removing everything they could unscrew.

In the east of the city, Iraqi folk music blared from radios and people, mostly Shiite Muslims, were full of broad smiles.

One man intoned the name of "Saddam" and ran his finger across his throat in a gesture of execution. But two others appeared to support the embattled Iraqi president: "Saddam Hussein good," one said.

Marines reported widespread looting including by two men who identified themselves as schoolteachers as they hurried off with computers. "Thank you for the gift, Saddam Hussein," one said.

Local residents also sacked one of Saddam's palaces, according to marines. "Everything from the walls was taken down. They even stole the marble from the floor," a soldier said.

Later on, flames engulfed the Baghdad headquarters of the Iraqi Olympic Committee, run by Saddam's elder son Uday, an AFP journalist said.

Thick black smoke rose as fire blazed from the windows on every floor of the seven or eight-storey building.

Looters were going in and out of the walled gardens of the committee headquarters to take what they could find.

A Toyota 4x4 that appeared to belong to the committee was seen being towed away by district residents using a pickup truck.

In northern Baghdad, an AFP correspondent saw young Iraqis attempting to hotwire the abandoned white Mercedes of the irrigation minister.

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 as well as offices of Saddam's Baath Party, leaving with anything they could carry.

Cheerful people marched out with chairs, tables, bookcases, fans, lamps, air cooling units, reams of paper and photocopiers with no one left to object.

There was so much to take that people with their arms full wandering the corridors pointed out rooms not yet plundered for the late arrivals.

Some were pushing freshly claimed motorcycles that had run out of petrol down city streets, others made off with cars.

One young man was even galloping out of the neighborhood on a horse, amid rumors that wild stallions had escaped the presidential compound and were running free in the capital.

Another man sauntered down the street on a donkey-drawn cart followed by a teenager with a television perched on his bicycle.

Residents piled their spoils into trunks, onto the roof and even onto the hood of their cars smiling at US troops who let them pass.

"We have no money, we are poor," one young boy cried, pulling out the linings of his pockets in the universal gesture for broke.

"Halas (Finished), Halas, Saddam!" cried Baghdadis looting at the headquarters of the Baath Party, which as late as Tuesday had still appeared in control of much of the capital.

SPACE.WIRE