US forces claim to have seized Saddam's palace

US troops took control of President Saddam Hussein's main presidential palace in Baghdad and entered a second this morning, the…

US troops took control of President Saddam Hussein's main presidential palace in Baghdad and entered a second this morning, the US military said.

"We have seized the main presidential palace in downtown Baghdad...There are two palaces down there and we are in both of them," Lieutenant Colonel Pete Bayer said.

Bayer said 65 US tanks and 40 Bradley fighting vehicles took part in today's operation, which took the war to oust Saddam to the centre of the Iraqi capital.

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We have seized the main presidential palace in downtown Baghdad...There are two palaces down there and we are in both of them.
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Lieutenant Colonel Pete Bayer

"(The operation) has been highly successful so far. What we are trying to gauge is what his (Saddam's) response is," said Lt Col Bayer, operations officer in the 3rd US infantry division.

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He said there were no reports of any casualties so far among US forces. He added that US forces were now probing the northwest districts of the Iraqi capital.