Saddam Hussein's two eldest sons, Uday and Qusay, were killed by US forces in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul yesterday, giving a significant boost to the Bush administration's attempt to pacify Iraq, writes Lara Marlowe.
This was confirmed last night by the commander of the US forces in Iraq, Lt Gen Ricardo Sanchez. who told a news conference in Baghdad last night: "We are certain that Uday and Qusay were killed."
US forces were reported to have acted on what was termed a "walk- in" tip, received on Monday night, strengthening speculation that the two men were betrayed by someone from their inner circle.
Earlier this month, the US offered rewards of $15 million each for information on their whereabouts.
Some 200 US servicemen surrounded the luxurious villa, reported to belong to a wealthy contractor, or a cousin of Saddam's, yesterday morning.
They included the Task Force 20, a special operation group which recently shifted focus from searching for weapons of mass destruction to tracking Saddam Hussein and his supporters.
Fox News called the Task Force "a hit team that follows up only on solid intelligence". It includes members of the US Army's Delta Force and Central Intelligence Agency agents.
The US 101st Airborne Division also participated in the assault. Soldiers told US television networks that they came under small arms fire as they moved towards the villa. Helicopters and a remotely- piloted vehicle were called in.
"We had to use bigger calibre weapons to render the building safe," including missiles, helicopters and granade launchers, a soldier told Fox News in Mosul.
By the time the four-hour attack ended, the villa's columns, walls and balconies looked like a sieve. The bodies inside were severely damaged.
Before the deaths of the two sons were confirmed, an official in Washington told Reuters news agency that the corpses were "not in the best condition" but bore a strong resemblance to the brothers. Five Iraqis died in the assault.
A teenager is believed to have been Qusay's 14-year-old son, Mustafa, and another may have been Uday's bodyguard, who was nicknamed "Hitler".
Qusay (37), was the second most- wanted man after Saddam himself, in the US "deck of cards". Uday (39), came third. With their deaths, the US has killed or captured 36 of 55 most-wanted people from the toppled regime.
Qusay headed all Iraqi intelligence services and was in change of the defence of Baghdad in the war last spring.
He was groomed to succeed his father because Uday, with a reputation for rape and murder, was deemed too volatile.
Uday, who was nearly crippled in an assassination attempt in 1966, was exiled briefly to Switzerland after bludgeoning to death his father's favourite bodyguard in a nightclub, out of loyalty to his mother, Sajida.
The pudgy Qusay was less flamboyant than Uday but equally lethal. He had many of the regime's opponents executed and quashed at least two rebellions against his father.
The brothers were allegedly trained for leadership by being taken to watch torture sessions in childhood. A US military spokesman said widespread sporadic gunfire in Baghdad last night was in celebration at the news. Uday and Qusay's deaths will raise morale in the Bush administration, which is under pressure for making false claims about wespons of mass destruction and for rising casualties.
Thought many would have preferred that Uday and Qusay be captured alive and brought to trial, their deaths are certain to discourage what the US Secretary for Defence, Mr Donald Rumsfeld, called "diehard Baathist elements".
Iraqis who feared the return of Saddam's regime may now be less reluctant to co-operate with US occupation forces.
Mosul, 280 miles north of Baghdad, was one of the places which Saddam Hussein, was rumoured to have fled to. US officials say they believe he is alive and hiding in Iraq.