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.