Global Policy Forum

By Tanya Willmer

As battles raged in Iraq on Thursday despite the dramatic collapse of the feared Baghdad regime, questions marks hung over the fate of Saddam Hussein and the mammoth task of rebuilding the shattered country. Despite almost universal euphoria at the downfall of Saddam — symbolised by the toppling Wednesday of a huge statue of the Iraqi leader — the United States and its key ally Britain warned the 22-day war was not at an end. .

US President George W. Bush is to make a televised address to the Iraqi people on Thursday, along with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, to announce that "the regime of Saddam Hussein has been removed from power," a US official said. But a spokesperson for Blair, Bush's staunchest ally, said: "It is not over... There are still dangers we should not underestimate." World leaders called for a swift end to hostilities to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe in a country that has been ground down by 24 years of Saddam's iron rule, three wars and almost 13 years of crippling sanctions. .

"France, like all democracies, is delighted at the fall of the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein and hopes for a quick and effective end to the fighting," said French President Jacques Chirac. Many in the Arab world reacted more warily to the fall of Baghdad into US hands, with several Arab leaders adamant the future of country should rest with Iraqis. "The Iraqi people must decide the future of Iraq and choose their own leadership at this time. No one else can do that," Jordan's Foreign Minister Marwan Moasher said.

The United States nevertheless remained at loggerheads with governments across the globe over its insistence that the United Nations should not play the principal role in Iraq's post-war reconstruction. US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said retired US general Jay Garner will head to Baghdad as interim administrator once the shooting stops, with Washington categorically rejecting the notion that it would turn Iraq over to the UN Security Council.

"Saddam Hussein is now taking his rightful place alongside Hitler, Stalin, Lenin, Ceausescu in the pantheon of failed brutal dictators, and the Iraqi people are well on their way to freedom," he said. But permanent Security Council members China and France joined a host of other states in pressing for a central UN role and the urgent dispatch of aid.

"At the moment the humanitarian situation in Iraq is deteriorating," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said. "The priority is to put an end to the confrontation so as to avoid severe humanitarian problems and to resume peace and stability in Iraq at an early date." The issue is set to top the agenda Friday at a three-way summit between Chirac and the leaders of Germany and Russia in Saint Petersburg. UN aid agencies have been warning widespread looting and lawlessness since the fall of Baghdad and a breakdown of security could hinder efforts to provide humanitarian assistance.

Where is Saddam

With the abrupt disappearance of Iraqi leaders on Wednesday, mystery still surrounded the fate of Saddam, who has ruled the country with an iron grip since 1979. White House spokesperson Ari Fleischer said Saddam had "missed his chance" to go peacefully into exile but admitted: "We still don't know his fate." The only remark came from Baghdad's ambassador to the United Nations Mohammed al-Duri, who said "The game is over" — the first senior official to concede defeat in the US-led war.

The world's press drew triumphant parallels with the tearing down of the Berlin Wall in 1989, but sounded a note of caution about the task of rebuilding Iraq and avoiding future conflict between its Shiites and Sunnis, Kurds and Arabs. "The fall of a despicable dictator is a cause for joy for every democrat," wrote Germany's centre-left Tagesspiegel. But Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel stuck to his strident opposition to the war, saying victory had come at too high a price.

"I remain firmly convinced that we could have reached this result through diplomatic means," Michel said in a newspaper interview, questioning the very basis of the US case for war. "Have we found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq?" he asked.

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