A flood of conflicting rumors unleashed by the collapse of the regime in Baghdad have put Saddam variously in his hometown of Tikrit, at the Russian embassy in Baghdad or in a town on the road to Syria that was the scene of fierce fighting.

"Nothing has changed there. His fate is unknown at this point," said a US official, who asked not to be identified.

"There are just so many rumors going around; they are on the order of Elvis sightings," he said.

US officials searching for clues visited the wreckage of a bombed-out building in Baghdad's al-Mansour district which housed a popular restaurant but which officials said also contained offices of Iraqi intelligence.

Tipped off that Saddam and his sons were meeting with senior intelligence officials there on April 7, US commanders had it struck 45 minutes later by a B-1 bomber.

"It was based on human intelligence, multiple human intelligence," said a US defense official, who asked not to be identified. "Obviously it was people they thought enough of to drop bombs on a target. I would say those people would have to be well placed."

British intelligence is reported to believe that Saddam probably left the building minutes before the bombing, either through a tunnel or by car.

A similar "decapitation" strike apparently missed Saddam on March 20, the first night of the war, despite what was believed to be timely, high-quality intelligence that he and his sons were in the targeted compound.

US intelligence, however, became convinced Saddam survived that attempt on his life after Iraqi television aired a videotape of him rallying his supporters in a speech that alluded to the downing of an Apache helicopter, an event that occurred after the first strike.

"If people thought he was killed, they would never have dropped the bombs on the second target," said the defense official.

It was unclear whether the US officials who inspected the site of the April 7 bombing included forensics experts.

Officials said DNA might help to identify the remains. But confirmation that Saddam is dead or alive may ultimately come from those who were close enough to him to know.

"I think somebody is going to come forward and say, 'Here's his body,' or something like that. Or you'll make an educated guess that he's died," the defense official said.

"It's kind of like Hitler after World War II. Nobody really saw his body. They said, 'He's dead and we burned his body,'" he said.

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Thursday appealed to Iraqis with information about the regime to come forward.

But the top Iraqi leadership has vanished along with Saddam. Rumsfeld said some were trying to escape to Syria.

"Most of the key folks are underground, probably trying to avoid their own population," said the US official, adding: "I'm not aware of any Iraqi leader in the inner circle or the inner outer circle who's providing that kind of information."

If Saddam or his sons are alive, US officials want to capture them not only for future war crimes trials but also for their knowledge. The regime's weapons of mass destruction programs, its links to terrorism and the fate of US servicemembers and others missing from the first Gulf War are areas of intense interest.

The hunt is on for Iraqi scientists and other members of the regime, as well as the body of files that would document the regime's secrets.

"Obviously we're picking up documents over there. I don't know if they've found anything earth-shattering yet. It will come out in time," said the defense official.

"Once the country is stabilized, that will be one of the big things. Besides humanitarian assistance and installing the new government, (intelligence) exploitation is going to be right up there as one of the most important things," he said.

SPACE.WIRE