The airport is four miles from the city's gates. Navy Capt. Frank Thorp did not identify the palace and did not say if anything was found there. He said the troops had already left. "They don't need to stay," he added. 

Two palaces are located near Saddam International Airport, which is located a few miles southwest of Baghdad. 
 

The Radwaniyah Palace Complex is on the southwest edge of Saddam International and Presidential Palace North is on the northeast edge.  It could not be determined whether the U.S. troops were from a special operations unit or were part of the main force moving north from the Karbala area. View Location Map .........Palace in Tikrit

U.S. special operations forces also raided a presidential palace Thursday north of Baghdad, finding no trace of Saddam Hussein but seizing important documents, a Central Command spokesman said. 

Troops raided the Thar Thar presidential palace about 56 miles northwest of Baghdad, said Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks. 

The palace has been used as a vacation retreat for Saddam and his sons in the past, but Brooks said no regime leaders were present when U.S. forces raided the building, and another spokesman, Lt. Mark Kitchens, said there was no indication Saddam had been there recently. Important documents were seized, officials said. 

Kitchens also said that during the raid, the special operations forces encountered sporadic, light resistance from fighters on the ground, but troops overwhelmed them.