News-stands in London were alive with colour front-page pictures of a huge Saddam statue in central Baghdad that was yanked to the ground on Wednesday by US marines and jubilant Iraqis.

Headlines ranged from "The toppling of Saddam" in The Guardian, The Independent and The Daily Telegraph, to simply "Toppled" in the Daily Express and Daily Mail.

In The Sun, Britain's biggest selling daily, and the Daily Mirror, the paper most opposed to the war, "Statue of Liberty," was the message, while The Times' headline simply read: "Victory in the 21-day war."

The optimism expressed on The Times front page was dampened in its editorial. "The conflict is not yet over," it said, a point stressed by other papers -- as well as by the prime minister.

Blair has been US President George W. Bush's staunchest ally on Iraq, sending 45,000 soldiers, sailors and airmen, 120 tanks, a naval task force and more than 100 warplanes.

British forces are concentrated in the south of Iraq, consolidating their grip on Basra city after securing oil fields and the port of Umm Qasr, portal for incoming humanitarian relief supplies.

A spokesman for Blair said the prime minister watched the fall of downtown Baghdad live on television at Downing Street, and that he and his staff were "delighted" at the reaction of Iraqi civilians.

The fact that Saddam loyalists were putting up resistance in another part of the capital had gone virtually without mention on British television Wednesday amid the euphoric scenes in the city center.

On Wednesday, Blair told the House of Commons it was still "extremely difficult" to say what remains of the Iraqi leader's regime, let alone know who would surrender to US-led forces in its name.

"There are still some very difficult things to do, and as we speak there is still intense resistance... among those parts of Saddam's regime that want to cling on to power," he said.

"So it's not over yet."

Blair -- who met Bush in Belfast on Monday and Tuesday -- spoke on Wednesday by telephone with French President Jacques Chirac to discuss the fast-evolving situation.

A spokesman for the French leader said afterwards that the two men had agreed that humanitarian aid must be the "absolute priority."

Britain and France fell out badly in the run-up to war, with France refusing to consider a second UN resolution that would have endorsed US-led military action to oust Saddam and rid Iraq of alleged weapons of mass destruction.

French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin and British counterpart Jack Straw met in Paris earlier Wednesday and likewise urged quick action to avert a humanitarian crisis.

SPACE.WIRE