Charge d'affaires Wajid Abbas said it was business as usual at the two-man mission in Colombo, although they had lost contact with Baghdad since US troops captured the city.

"The power of Saddam is over," Abbas said. "I fear there may be civil unrest," in Iraq because of different ethnic groups in the country, he added.

"I have lost contact with Baghdad but we will continue to remain until the setting up of a new regime," he said.

SPACE.WIRE