Dust settles in Baghdad

Dust settles in Baghdad

By David Willis BBC correspondent in Baghdad

Joint patrols have begun across Baghdad

Early on Tuesday morning a unit of American marines entered the Hotel Palestine, where most of the western journalists have been staying in Iraq.

We are not sure who or what they were looking for, and they have declined to tell us, but several rooms were searched and their occupants questioned.

One of my female colleagues answered her room door dressed only in a towel, such was the urgency of the soldiers.

And security remains tight this evening, as roads around the hotel are being heavily guarded. It is a reminder that security is still a serious consideration for the coalition forces here.

But out on the streets of Iraq's capital city things are beginning to get back to normal.

Joint patrols of Iraqi policemen and US marines have begun around the city, as the authorities attempt to restore order.

And most ordinary Iraqis seem to have welcomed their return, perhaps as a sign that law and order is returning to the streets.

After several days of lawlessness, it must be a relief to see a familiar sight again.

The looting which has been such a feature of life here since the fall of Saddam's regime has also diminished.

Chatter increasing

Perhaps there is nothing left to loot, or maybe the wildness that accompanied the first few days of freedom has died down.

That is not to say that the city is completely safe again. Looting has continued in some parts, and the American-imposed curfew is designed to deter potential criminals, as well as make it easier to identify the militia that continue to harry coalition forces.

Some order has returned to Baghdad's streets

If you enter Baghdad's cafes today though, you can sense the way in which things have changed so quickly.

Where once people would be too afraid to talk openly about many aspects of life here, now the chatter is audibly increasing.

The threat of spells in prison, disappearances and torture no longer hangs over the people of Baghdad, and the fluid situation in the country has given them plenty to talk about.

Maybe in the next few weeks and months they will talk to each other about how they coped under Saddam's government.

Back to school

Baghdad's policemen are not the only ones returning to work either. People are slowly going back to their jobs, if they can, though of course for many it's not a case of simply picking up where they left off.

Much of the city's infrastructure and economy remains damaged.

Baghdad's future is not clear yet.

But for the young of the city, a return to school might not be the return to normality that they especially wanted, but it is a clear sign that the uncertainty of the past few weeks is slowly fading.