BAGHDAD DESTROYED: The fall of Baghdad on 9 April 2003 to US-led forces was not the first time the city had fallen to invaders over the course of its long history. Mongol forces led by Hulagu sacked the city in 1258, before returning between 1393 and 1401 under Tamerlane. More recently, the British twice invaded Iraq, first in 1917 and then again in 1941. The 2003 Anglo-American invasion promised liberty and democracy, and when the statue of Saddam fell a few hours after the tanks had rumbled into Baghdad some Iraqis wanted to believe such promises. The above picture shows scaffolding erected on the site of the statue a few days after its removal, the sign saying that the "Najeen group is starting practical steps to build Iraqi civilisation anew." The Najeen, meaning those who have been saved, were among those who wanted to believe the promises made by the invading forces. Five years on, and with the country plunged into chaos and violence, what has happened to the monument to Iraqi civilisation that the Najeen wanted to erect in Saddam's place?

LITTLE BAGHDADON THE BANKS OF THE NILE: Five years ago yesterday US armoured vehicles rolled into central Baghdad and helped supposedly jubilant Iraqis to topple a huge statue of Saddam Hussein. The scene remained the ultimate camera moment for months, capturing the fall of a dictator who had promised his people that the Battle of Baghdad would be a 21st-century reenactment of the Battle of Stalingrad. Al-Ahram Weekly commemorates the occasion through testimonies from inhabitants of the Iraqi capital