Iraq then and now – in pictures

Abu Nawas park in Baghdad, where Iraqi orphans and a US soldier were photographed playing football together in April 2003. Ten years ago the area was rife with crime; now the park is a popular destination for families Photograph: Maya Alleruzzo/AP

Firdous Square in central Baghdad, scene of a photograph taken by Jerome Delay in April 2003 of a statue of Saddam Hussein being pulled down. Today the pedestal stands empty, bent iron beams sprout from the top and posters depicting the anti-American Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in military fatigues are pasted on the sides Photograph: Maya Alleruzzo/AP

The crossed swords monument, scene of a photograph of US soldiers taken in November 2008. The archway, commissioned by Saddam Hussein, stands on a little-used parade ground inside the Green Zone, the fortified district that houses the sprawling US embassy and several government offices Photograph: Maya Alleruzzo/AP

The grounds of the Iraqi National Museum, and a photograph of US soldiers on guard outside the museum in November 2003. Tens of thousands of artefacts chronicling 7,000 years of civilisation in Mesopotamia are believed to have been looted from Iraq in the chaos that followed the US-led invasion in 2003 Photograph: Maya Alleruzzo/AP

Abu Nawas Street in Baghdad, where an Iraqi orphan was photographed in April 2003 Photograph: Maya Alleruzzo/AP

A woman and her child look at a camel at Baghdad Zoo, as Abdullah holds up a photograph taken in July 2003 showing a US soldier visiting the newly opened zoo. Only a handful of animals survived the 2003 war, and later the grounds were used as a holding facility for looters detained by US soldiers. Today it houses more than 1,000 animals Photograph: Maya Alleruzzo/AP

The grounds of the Iraqi National Museum, and a photograph of a US army tank in May 2003 Photograph: Maya Alleruzzo/AP

Photographer Raad Mohammed poses with a picture taken in June 2006 in Baghdad's Tahrir Square showing an Iraqi soldier manning a checkpoint Photograph: Maya Alleruzzo/AP

The main street in Baghdad's Karrada shopping district, where in March 2008 a bombing killed 53 people and wounded 130 Photograph: Maya Alleruzzo/AP