Kurds start to leave Kirkuk

Kurds start to leave Kirkuk

Guerrillas took control of Kirkuk when Iraqi forces disappeared

Kurdish guerrillas have begun to pull back from the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk which they seized from Saddam Hussein's regime on Thursday.

US forces are increasing their presence to establish control in the city which is a centre of the oil industry in the north.

Correspondents say the moves are vital to pacify Turkey which borders northern Iraq and which opposes any moves to create an independent Kurdish state in the area.

The US-led coalition is also trying to restore calm in cities wracked by violence and looting since the regime lost power.

In other developments:

• The BBC's Paul Wood in Baghdad reports violence is now crossing the religious divide, with Shia Muslims fighting gun battles with their Sunni neighbours throughout the capital

• Coalition ground troops head for Tikrit after overnight air strikes pounded the home town of Saddam Hussein which remains a possible stronghold for his regime; the US says it used a new targeting system for the first time in combat for a raid on an airfield

• US personnel begin to take control of the northern city of Mosul after telling Kurdish militia to stay on the outskirts of the city they seized on Friday

• A US delegation plans to meet Iraqi opposition leaders in Nasiriya on Tuesday to discuss an interim government

The BBC's Dumeetha Luthra in Kirkuk says groups of the peshmerga fighters are leaving the city, three days after their arrival caused a political storm.

Map: Military operations

Why Kirkuk is key

Factfile: Kurdish fighters

Thousands of Kurdish guerrillas flooded in as the Iraqi army abandoned Kirkuk.

Turkey demanded that the US take control and has sent monitors to satisfy itself that the Kurds are not establishing a power base.

Tens of thousands of Turkish soldiers remain stationed on the Iraqi border but our correspondents say the hope is that tensions will ease.

US troops are setting up a base at the military airport in Kirkuk and reinforcements are expected.

Lawlessness

The centre of Kirkuk is largely peaceful amid the growing American presence, though there has been looting on the outskirts of the city.

Lawlessness has been more of a problem in Mosul, Baghdad and Basra.

Residents are taking up arms to protect themselves in Baghdad

In the capital, the BBC's Andrew Gilligan says looters are now hitting ordinary civilian homes and businesses after running out of targets of the former regime.

People - even hospital staff - are now armed to protect themselves and their property and some thieves have been beaten to death on the streets, our correspondent adds.

The International Committee of the Red Cross says it is profoundly alarmed by the situation in Baghdad, which it says is verging on anarchy.

The organisation, reminding the US and Britain of their legal responsibility to protect civilians and essential services, says looting has left the capital with virtually no functioning hospitals.

Journalists found

US troops in Baghdad have called on the city's police to return to work and the US Government says it will send 1,200 law and order experts to Iraq to advise on the establishment of a new police force.

They don't even know what it's used for

A doctor, who stood up to looters

Eyewitness account

Correspondents say US marines are expected to start trying to restore order in Baghdad while a British commander says UK troops will start patrols in conjunction with local forces in Basra to quell civil unrest there.

US officials said marines in Baghdad recovered four journalists from a hospital in Baghdad.

They said one was dead, one was unhurt and the other two were taken to a field hospital south-east of Baghdad to be treated for injuries they suffered at the Palestine Hotel in fighting as the US advanced to the centre of Baghdad last Tuesday.

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld denied Iraq was falling into chaos.

"Free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things," he told reporters.

"While no one condones looting, on the other hand one can understand the pent-up feeling that may result from decades of repression," he added.