GWT: VOICED US troops at presidential palace, interiors

(7 Apr 2003) VOICED BY LOUISE BATES

SHOTLIST

UK Pool: Basra
00:00 Britain's Royal Marines advancing on foot towards the palace
00:05 UPSOUND Jeep crashing through front-door
00:09 UPSOUND Commando giving troops instructions as they enter building
00:15 Various tracking shots following commandos as they search the palace room-by-room
00:32 Exterior of palace entrance
00:36 Commandos with Iraqi men they found
00:41 Wide of marble floor, tilts up to show ceiling

APTN: Baghdad
00:51 Wide of U.S. tank and soldiers outside Baghdad's New Presidential Palace
00:58 Wide of dining room
01:02 Wide of ceiling
01:06 Various of furniture in bedroom
01:11 U.S. soldiers in garden
01:14 View of river from window
01:17 Wide view of chandelier shot from above, tilts up to show wall
01:27 Ends

SUGGESTED LEAD-IN:

British marines on Monday stormed the presidential palace compound in Basra, which was once a headquarters of the Fedayeen militia.

They entered the complex on the banks of the Shatt Al-Arab waterway at first light in the culmination of a massive operation to take control of Basra.

US fighter planes had softened up the target by bombing watchtowers overnight.

Also on Monday, in Baghdad, U.S. soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division captured one of Saddam Hussein's presidential palaces that lies between the airport and the centre of Baghdad.

Reporters at the scene said resistance by Iraqi defenders was limited.

VOICE-OVER:

00:02 Britain's Royal Marines approaching Saddam's Basra palace.

00:06 UPSOUND Jeep driving through front-door

00:08 No need to knock.

00:09 UPSOUND Commandos carefully entering hall

00:13 Fifty-six windows on its facade, 18 giant rooms, 12 balconies, eight spacious toilets and five staircases.

All need to be checked carefully for booby-traps or anything else left behind.

But the the city's Fedayeen militia had abandoned the building - or been bombed into retreat.

00:32 The palace looked like it hadn't been lived in for months -

00:36 although the commandos did find some men who they thought may have been looting.

00:41 Inside the palace - how the regime used to live: a large marble floor and ornate ceiling.

00:52 In Baghdad, U.S. soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division have taken hold of an even grander palace.

00:59 In the south-west of the capital, it was often used by President Saddam Hussein - and as a residence, rather than just an administrative headquarters.

01:08 But for now it's proved a comfortable place for U.S. soldiers to take a break.

01:14 Some rooms have spectacular river views and the palace provides an insight into Saddam's lifestyle before the war.

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