A day of chaos and looting in free Baghdad

US FORCES in Iraq grappled with looting and civil disorder, scattered gunfights, the murder of a Shi’ite religious leader and a suicide bomb attack that took American lives last night, one day after the euphoria that marked the end of Saddam Hussein’s rule.

Maj Gen Gene Renuart, director of operations at Central Command, said: “Baghdad is still an ugly place with pockets of resistance.”

As reality set in following Wednesday’s wild celebrations, the US also faced political complications with Turkey after Kurdish fighters took the northern city of Kirkuk in a bloodless rout of Iraqi forces.

In the holy city of Najaf, Iraqi Shi’ite leader Abdul Majid al-Khoei and an aide were stabbed to death by a mob in an attack in the Imam Ali Mosque, the city’s holiest shrine. The murder seemed certain to inflame emotions among Shi’ites, 60% of the population.

Abdul Majid had returned to Iraq only last week but his presence had provoked intense criticism from other Iraqi Shi’ite dissidents keen to assert their authority after the fall of Saddam.

One day after US forces drove tanks into the heart of Baghdad to cheers from Iraqis, Saddam’s whereabouts were still unknown.

A suicide bomber detonated explosives at a US checkpoint in the capital. US news networks said four US soldiers were wounded.

The attack came hours after one marine was killed and more than 20 wounded in a four-hour battle with Saddam loyalists at the Imam al-Adham Mosque on the east bank of the Tigris river.

In the three-week war prior to the latest losses, US forces had suffered 105 killed. Another 11 were listed missing. Britain had 30 troops killed. There is no authoritative estimate for Iraqi military and civilian casualties but they certainly run into the thousands.

The immediate problem facing US invaders was quelling remaining pockets of resistance and restoring a vestige of law and order.

Looters carted off bottles of wine and whiskey, guns and paintings of half-naked women from the luxury home of Uday, the playboy son of Saddam Hussein.

Meanwhile, a humanitarian effort to bring food and other supplies to Iraq was beginning.

Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke said that a British ship unloaded over 200,000 tons of food, water and medicine at the port of Umm Qasr. The US has still not confirmed finding any of the weapons of mass destruction it said Iraq had been hiding.

Military officials said the war was not over. Saddam’s home town of Tikrit was still not subdued and dangerous pockets of resistance remained elsewhere, including in Baghdad.

In the north, Kurdish guerrillas moved largely unopposed into Kirkuk, a move that sparked celebrations but alarm in Turkey.

Iraqi Kurds consider the city, source of 40% of Iraq’s oil revenue, their capital.

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said Washington had assured Ankara US forces would remove Kurdish fighters from the city.