What a difference a year makes. On 9 April 2003, Firdus (Paradise) Square was abuzz with excited Iraqis determined to pull down a vast bronze statue of their dictator.

With American help, the giant bronze edifice was pulled to the ground and the troops looked on as the jubilant crowd beat Saddam's statue with their shoes.

It looked and sounded like liberation.

But 9 April 2004 and the square is empty.

The statue has been replaced by a modern sculpture plastered with pictures of the radical young cleric Moqtada Sadr, leader of the Shia militants.

The small park around the statue is untended and choked with litter.

There are no celebrations here - quite the reverse in fact.

There is barbed wire rolled out across every road leading into it, and American troops with Bradley fighting vehicles are on patrol.

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The tannoy on a mosque near the square is competing with the military loudspeakers.

The message echoing off buildings across this part of town is that 9 April should not have been declared a public holiday, but a day of shame.

The Americans, says the voice, are in Iraq for its oil.

On some streets, leaflets are being distributed which say foreigners should be attacked and kidnapped.
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In the first eight days of April some 40 coalition troops were killed as well - more than the monthly total for most months since Baghdad fell.

Hundreds of thousands of satellite dishes have flooded into Iraq in the past year, together with new televisions, cars and mobile phones.

People here have a better idea about what is happening in their country than ever before.

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