Even as American and British forces advance on Baghdad, two Indian students of Saddam University, who arrived in Mumbai, felt that it would not be a cakewalk for the invading forces as the Iraqi preparations for war had gone on for more than a month.

"We have seen the Iraqis digging trenches all over Baghdad," said Anwar Ahmad Baghdadi. "They have placed sandbags for protection in every street and corner. They told us that they will fight from street to street and won't give up till their last breath. They hate America!"

Baghdadi said the Iraqi government had learnt a bitter lesson from the last Gulf War. "The Iraqi Army will never come out in the open to fight the Americans," he said. "They will hide and hit the Americans. The whole of Baghdad looked like a fortress before I left."

Baghdadi's friend Ali Hussain said, "They have stored enough food and water in every house. In some houses, people have stored food for nearly six months. Some have even dug wells in their houses."

Hussain arrived in Mumbai via Tehran, the capital of neighbouring Iran, on Thursday; Baghdadi arrived last week. They were sent to Baghdad by the Darool-ul-Alimiya in Basti, Uttar Pradesh, to study Arabic.

"Every year we send two students from our madrassa to the Saddam University," Maulana Moin-ul-Haq Alimi, president of the Darool-ul-Alimiya, told rediff.com "This was our sixth batch."

The two students said there is tremendous anger among common Iraqis against the US. Most adult Iraqis have had some kind of military training and are prepared for the war. "I was quite amazed to see women warriors also," Baghdadi said. "In their training, they were as good as men. The Americans will have to fight them too before reaching Saddam [Hussein]."

The youth said he was surprised to see Western news reports of an uprising against Saddam in parts of Iraq. "I have never seen anyone say anything against Saddam in the last seven years of my stay in Baghdad," he said.

Asked about reports that the Shias in southern and central Iraq were ready to revolt against Saddam, he said, "I never met any Shia who spoke against Saddam. In fact, intermarriage between Sunnis and Shias is fairly common."

Baghdadi pointed out that many Shias are members of Saddam's ruling Ba'ath Socialist Party and hold important posts. "Taha Yasin Ramadan, vice-president of the country, is a Shia. Why will the Shias revolt against him?" he said.

Both Baghdadi and Hussain took the road to Tehran and then a flight to Mumbai. "The Indian embassy played a good role in evacuating Indians trapped in Iraq," Hussain said. "They called each and every Indian in Iraq and told them that they should leave the country immediately. The only complaint is that they didn't help anyone financially. They could have provided us tickets to Mumbai."

Maulana Alimi praised the Iraqi government and said it has good faith in Indian students as they conduct themselves well. "They had waived the fees for our students of Arabic because of their good conduct," he said. "Now we may have to look at other countries to send our students to."

Both Baghdadi and Hussain have decided to return to Basti and teach Arabic in their parent madrassa. Asked whether the Americans could defeat the Iraqis, the former said, "They will be able to defeat the Iraqis only if they cut off the water supply. This is what I feel."