Police and US troops seized weapons both in Baghdad and near Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit after a small but symbolic rocket attack on a US compound in the Iraqi capital. It caused no casualties but appeared meant to warn the Americans of their vulnerability.

　　The cache found on Saturday near Tikrit included 23 Russian-made surface to air missiles, 450 kilograms of plastic explosives, grenades, grenade launchers, rockets, a mortar and mortar rounds, and was among the largest recovered there since American troops arrived in April.

　　In baghdad, Iraqi police found a much smaller cache late on Saturday, recovering about a dozen small rockets, grenades and mortar rounds. The warheads had been removed from the rockets, suggesting they were to have been used in fabricating small roadside bombs which have caused casualties among US troops.

　　Police general Ahmed Kadhim Ibrahim said the weapons were recovered in the Shorja market after a tip from an informant. He said the weapons had been brought to Baghdad from the southern port of Basra after having been smuggled in from a neighboring country which he would not identify.

　　Us troops and their Iraqi partners have been trying to curb the flow of weapons after attacks against American forces, which have killed more than 80 US soldiers since US President George W. Bush declared an end to major combat operations.

　　Most of the resistance has been centered in the area north and west of Baghdad, the stronghold of the country's Sunni Muslim minority. Despite their minority status, Sunnis formed the core of Saddam's regime.

　　On saturday, guerrillas struck at the very symbol of American control in Iraq, firing three rockets or rocket-propelled grenades at the Al-Rashid Hotel, filled with American soldiers and civilians. The explosions caused no casualties and little damage but re-minds Americans of their vulnerability.