The garage that housed Saddam Hussein's car collection in the Republic Palace compound in central Baghdad has not escaped the attention of the city's looters, according to AFP correspondents who entered the premises Friday.Vestiges of the deposed Iraqi president's hobby could be seen in a large alleyway where two US Abrams tanks were stationed.
A convertible 1955 Chevy Bel Air could not stand up to an American tank which had crushed its pink body. Further down, a convertible black Packard, the car of choice of Chicago mafiosi during the Prohibition, was abandoned, its hood smashed.
An armored black Cadillac Fleetwood equipped with flag carriers for official convoys survived in the garage. As did a superb Rolls Royce Silver Shadow, with curtains on the rear windows.
Other models did not impress the looters. They included a white buggy and a Ford 8, a car whose wood-panneled body has always been a favorite in the American countryside, still in perfect shape.
In the back of the garage, whose ceiling has crumbled, a quintessential London cab, its doors open, appeared to be awaiting a passenger who never came.
Looters have been on the rampage in Baghdad since government forces vanished on Wednesday and US troops ended Saddam's 24-year rule.
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Nov 02, 2006
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