US war chief visits Baghdad HQ

US war chief visits Baghdad HQ

General Franks with military leaders in the Abu Ghurayb North Palace

The US commander of the war in Iraq has arrived in Baghdad to thank his military chiefs for their "bone-crushing hard work".

General Tommy Franks also held a video-conference with President George W Bush from within one of Saddam Hussein's abandoned palaces in Baghdad, the US military said.

Details of the conversation were not made public, but General Franks said he had told the president the current situation and "what I think we'll see in the next week to 10 days".

Commanders in the capital briefed General Franks, who also spoke to Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

It's the oil-for-palace programme

General Tommy Franks touring Abu Ghurayb North Palace

The general had been taken from Baghdad airport in a dozen-vehicle motorcade to the Abu Ghurayb North Palace.

The palace now serves as the command centre for the US ground forces in Baghdad.

The general said his trip was partly an "emotional event" to show appreciation to the commanders "who have done the bone-crushing hard work".

General Franks took a tour of the ornate rooms of the palace, including a bathroom where the sink fixtures, toilet-paper dispenser and toilet-bowl brush were all made of gold.

"It's the oil-for-palace programme," he said, referring sarcastically to the "oil-for-food" programme under which Iraq was able to sell oil for basic supplies.

'No victory parade'

After his talk with Mr Bush, the general said: "I think over the past week we have seen water being turned back on. I think we have seen power being turned back on. I think we've seen hospitals going back to work."

Franks called the visit "emotional"

But he warned there were still "remnants of what we call Arab fighters".

General Franks had earlier stressed his visit was not "a victory parade in downtown Baghdad".

Another senior officer, Brigadier-General Vincent Brooks, said that combat operations were coming to a close as forces fanned out across the whole of Iraq.

But he added that troops were still having to fight when they met fighters loyal to the deposed regime in areas not yet controlled by the coalition.

Correspondents say the arrival of General Franks in Baghdad 28 days after the capital was first attacked by the coalition is highly symbolic.

Mr Bush has said that the war will be over when General Franks says it is over and the visit to Baghdad is another sign that that the military's control is extending.