Saddam gets headhunted

CIGAR-CHOMPING Lt Col Tim Collins is bringing home a couple of mementoes to remind him of the victory in Iraq - and one of them is an ashtray courtesy of Saddam Hussein.

The Royal Irish Regiment CO has claimed the head from a statue of Saddam for the his HQ back in Northern Ireland.

But the second souvenir is deposed Saddam's upturned hand - which Tim thinks will be a good place to rest his smoking cigars between puffs.

The regiment picked up the statue as they pushed northwards from Basra to Al Qurna, the fabled site of the Garden of Eden.

But when they left there heading for Al Amara, they left the statue behind - minus his head and hand.

Reporter Sarah Oliver, who is embedded with the Regiment, said: "The bust will go to the Royal Irish headquarters and the CO fancies the benevolently upturned palm as an ashtray.

"I'm not a smoker but Sergeant Major Ian Ferris has given me a cigar."

"All victories," he says, "deserve one."

Yesterday though the Regiment was back to job in hand.

They pushed into the lawless Iran-Iraq border region amid reports of chemical weapons caches and underground chambers where prisoners from the last Gulf War 10 years ago were being held.

Engineers attached to the 1st Battalion Royal Irish were searching for the dungeons although it was feared they may have been flooded by men loyal to Saddam's Ba'ath party before they fled the area, killing all those inside.

Meanwhile an intelligence operation was under way to establish if Baghdad had used the Maysan province as a hiding place for weapons of mass destruction.

The city of Al Amara - which played a pivotal role in the 1991 uprising against Saddam following the last Gulf War - was under occupation last night following its descent into the same chaos of destruction and looting as Basra and Baghdad.

Lt Col Collins said: "There is an allegation that Iraqi and Kuwaiti prisoners were brought here from Baghdad when the UN weapons inspectors closed in.

"The head of police has told us that the use of underground chambers as prisons was standard practice but we fear that if there were any they will have been flooded to get rid of the evidence.

"Al Amara was heavily controlled by Ba'ath in the wake of the rebellion here and was used by Chemical Ali as an alternative headquarters to Basra.

"There are allegations that the regime brought brought their chemical weapons here too."

Troops have already found Al Samud missiles - which can carry chemical weapons - in the area.

Their launchers are disguised as civilian trucks and parked in civilian areas, such as sports stadia and schools.

But they have encountered no resistance as the Iraqi troops protecting the area - Saddam's 10th, 14th and 18th Divisions - have all fled, abandoning their tanks and weapons.

The Royal Irish will today begin the task of restoring order to the city.

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