PRESIDENT Saddam Hussein has survived a second American bombing strike designed to kill him and his inner circle, British Intelligence says.

MI6 has told the CIA that it believes Saddam left a building in Baghdad’s al-Mansour district just before four 2,000lb US “bunker-buster” bombs reduced it to rubble on Monday afternoon.

However, US officials believe that the strike killed Saddam, who escaped a similar attack on the war’s opening night.

“We think he (Saddam) left the same way he arrived in the area, either by a tunnel system or by car, we’re not sure,” said one British Intelligence source, though he conceded that the judgment was not conclusive.

Saddam issued no statement and made no appearances yesterday, and if he did escape he was extraordinarily lucky.

The raid was ordered after an intelligence tip that the Iraqi President, one or more of his sons, and up to 40 other leadership associates were inside the building. The B1 dropped its payload only 12 minutes after receiving orders to strike.

“If he has survived, Saddam will have had the fear of God put into him because he will know that we are getting very good intelligence of his movements,” said one source.

President Bush, in Belfast for a war summit with Tony Blair, said: “I don’t know whether he survived. The only thing I know is he’s losing power.” US and British officials are convinced that Saddam was in the building, although he is known for staying as short a time as possible in any one place.

The complex included al-Saa restaurant and flats. Intelligence chiefs had suspected the Iraqi leadership of using al-Saa, or a bunker underneath it, as a command centre. At least 14 people were killed in the strike, including nine members of a family and two children, according to residents. Brigadier-General Vincent Brooks, the US Central Command spokesman, said: “As to who was inside and what their conditions are, it will take time to determine. We may never be able to determine who was present.” Whether or not Saddam survived, Mr Bush insisted that the Iraqi President had lost his grip on Iraq. “I can’t tell you if all ten fingers are off the throat, but finger by finger it’s coming off and the people are beginning to realise that,” he said.

American warplanes continued their show of strength in central Baghdad, blitzing the nerve centres of Saddam’s regime, including the Ministry of Information. They met fierce resistance from pockets of Iraqi snipers and irregular fighters.

But the coalition was thrown on the defensive after American forces killed three journalists and injured others. Two died after a US tank fired into the Palestine Hotel, widely known to house the international press corps in Baghdad.

A correspondent for al-Jazeera, the Arabic-language satellite channel, was also killed, and a colleague wounded, when a US bomb hit their office. That attack sparked outrage in the Arab world and accusations that the bureau had been deliberately targeted.

US troops strengthened their hold over central Baghdad and expanded their presence in the city. They captured al-Rashid airbase, a key military complex, in the capital’s southeastern corner, seizing enough ammunition for an estimated 3,000 troops. Forces also took a prison, where they found US Army uniforms and chemical weapons suits, possibly belonging to American Pows.

Major-General Jim Mattis, of the 1st Marine Division, said troops had battled fighters from Jordan, Sudan and Egypt in eastern Baghdad.

Across the city, coalition forces pushed in from the north, east, west and south in what appeared to be the final battle for the Iraqi capital.

Moving street to street, they met small-arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire from Iraqi irregulars. US officials said some streets had been booby-trapped with “decapitation wires” and grenades rigged to fire on passing vehicles. But they were also welcomed by some residents. “Thank you, Mr Bush,” one woman cried. The resistance was poorly organised, but occasionally fierce. One Iraqi missile shot down an A10 Warthog ground attack plane near Baghdad International Airport. The pilot was rescued. Iraqi forces staged a counterattack shortly after dawn yesterday, sending buses and trucks filled with fighters across the Tigris river to take on American troops guarding a key intersection. They were cut down by mortar and artillery fire and strafed by jets flying overhead. At least 50 Iraqi fighters were killed and two US soldiers were wounded, one seriously, by rooftop snipers.

US troops in Baghdad have no plans to pull back, Colonel David Perkins, of the US Army, said. He added that US forces now controlled most of the west bank of the Tigris, which divides the city, and were planning to link with US forces at the airportsix miles to the west of the city centre.By late afternoon the intense fighting in central Baghdad had slightly abated, according to Major Mike Birmingham of the US 3rd Infantry Division. He said that his troops had been fighting a mix of 200 to 300 Iraqi militiamen and Republican Guard soldiers, some on foot, others in 40 to 50 trucks.

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