Quote:U.S. Marines have used explosives to try and topple a statue of Saddam Hussein in central Baghdad but the resilient likeness of the Iraqi strongman was still standing after the blast.

According to a CNN correspondent transmitting live pictures from the scene near a bridge on Thursday, they had tried in vain with a tank to uproot the giant monument, similar to one which was ripped down on Wednesday in front of a crowd of jubilant Iraqis.

The statue of Saddam, right arm raised aloft, was left with a gaping hole in its groin after the explosion.