US tanks and troops seized Saddam Hussein's last power base of Tikrit, signaling the war is nearing its end as the focus begins to switch to rebuilding Iraq and installing a new leadership after 24 years of Baath Party rule. US commanders indicated that the seizure of Tikrit, the last Iraqi city still outside coalition control, likely marked the final major military engagement of the campaign launched on March 20, although fighting was not yet over.

"Clearly we are at a point when the decisive military operations that were focused on removing the regime ... that work is coming to a close," Brigadier-General Vincent Brooks said at the US command's war headquarters in Qatar.

After air strikes throughout the night US armour poured into Tikrit, meeting resistance only on the edges of Saddam's tribal stronghold 180 kilometers (115 miles) north of Baghdad.

Sergeant Robert Chute said three US marine reconnaissance battalions entered the city before dawn.

Firefights with what Chute believed to be Iraqi soldiers had left at least one Iraqi dead, while US units reported no wounded or dead.

US forces got little welcome from Tikrit residents, with the city's streets deserted in the morning and only a handful later emerging to catch a glimpse of the US troops.

US Central Command said some Saddam loyalists in Tikrit had not given up the fight, but a spokesman said the US military no longer considered the Iraqi army an effective force.

Iraqi Opposition Groups Gather in Nassiriyah Tuesday

The search for a new Iraqi leadership will take an important step forward on Tuesday when Iraqi opposition groups gather in the southern city of Nasiriyah for the first time since the fall of Saddam, who ruled his country with an iron fist for 24 years.

The search for new leadership for the country is to move forward on Tuesday when Iraqi opposition groups gather in the southern city of Nasiriyah for the first time since Saddam's fall.

But Ahmad Chalabi, tipped to be the country's next leader, will not attend and in an interview in the French daily Le Monde said he would not seek a post in the interim administration.

"I am not a candidate for any post," said Chalabi, head of the US-backed Iraqi National Congress opposition group.

Chalabi had backing from only parts of the US administration and remains an unknown quantity for most Iraqis.

Blair said the coalition aims to have an interim administration up and running in Iraq within a matter of weeks, and hopes elections can be held and a representative government installed in about one year.

Normal Life Appears Returning to Baghdad

Normal life appeared to be making a slow return to Baghdad, although most shops remain closed and most parts of the city remain without water or electricity.

Iraqi police cars, escorted by US forces, started joint patrols for the first time since the city came under American control on Wednesday.

"It appears there are more people in the streets, so we think there is some progress in terms of security," said Nada Doumani, an ICRC spokeswoman in Geneva.

Looting was reported to have died down in the capital, but clashes continue to plague the city.

Tracking Top Iraqi Officials

Saddam himself has remained elusive although the coalition has had some success in tracking down top Iraqi officials.

The Pentagon confirmed that Saddam's half-brother Watban Ibrahim Hasan had been captured near the border with Syria trying to flee the country.

Another half-brother, Barzan al-Tikriti, was killed Friday in a US air strike.

Top Iraqi nuclear scientist Jaffar al-Jaffar also surrendered in recent days. His surrender follows that of Lieutenant General Amir Saadi, Saddam's chief scientific adviser, who turned himself in on Saturday.

Hunt for WMD Begins

Blair said the hunt for Saddam's weapons of mass destruction has begun, with seven of 146 suspected sites identified by coalition forces before the campaign begun having been searched.

But the British prime minister warned that Saddam had initiated a program to move around and hide the weapons, so it may be a long process involving interviews with the scientists involved before they are uncovered.

Saddam's alleged weapons of mass destruction was the reason the United States and Britain used to justify toppling his regime

PHOTO CAPTION

A US Marines helicopter hovers over Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's palace (AFP/Joseph Barrak)