BASRA, April 8: After enduring more than two weeks of fighting and air strikes, the people of Basra are facing a new threat to their neighbourhoods — rampant looting.

Thieves armed with AK-47 assault rifles are breaking into homes, shops and ministries, walking away with everything from furniture to kerosene, residents say.

“They are terrorising our neighbourhoods. At night, during the day, they steal everything,” said Hussein Akil, standing with an angry crowd on one of Basra’s main streets.

“What kind of liberation is this?”

British troops walked into Basra on Monday. The city had been virtually under siege for much of the time since the US-led war to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein began on March 20.

Restoring law and order will be one of the biggest challenges facing the British as they try to create a civil administration in Iraq’s second city.

They have received a mixed reception from Iraqis, who say anarchy will erupt unless British forces move to fully restore stability and basic services such as water and electricity.

As British Challenger tanks held key intersections in central Basra on Tuesday, frustrated residents asked why looters were still able to move freely in the city.

“This is a crisis. We need protection from these people. They drive around and they hide guns in their clothes so the British and Americans don’t stop them at checkpoints,” said Saad, a Basra resident.

British Air Marshal Brian Burridge said on Monday that looting was almost inevitable due to widespread anger towards Saddam’s regime.

“There is a release of pent-up annoyance and hatred against the Baath Party and the Baath regime but once that safety valve is blown...the business of protecting property becomes easier,” he said.

As well as armed thieves, small-time looters also roam around Basra and other cities with wheelbarrows full of stolen goods. Others have used donkeys to haul heavy goods across cities as shells land and gunfire crackles.

Looters have cleaned out bombed factories, houses and buildings, taking away industrial equipment, household appliances, and even pillows and mattresses.

At the former Basra appeals court, teenagers were loading wood from the building onto a cart on Tuesday.

Looting is so widespread that many shopkeepers in Basra have closed their businesses for fear of being robbed.

“They even stop our cars and put a gun to our heads. Then they make us get out and steal our cars,” said an Iraqi man.

Iraqis jokingly refer to thieves as Ali Baba, referring to the fable of Ali Baba and the 40 thieves. But the humour is accompanied by anger towards the British troops they say have failed to stop the looting.

“These British soldiers turn

a blind eye to all this looting. It is disgraceful,” said a truck driver.

A panicked Iraqi man pointed to a wooden crate of hand grenades near a river bank, just below British tanks, fearful that looters would get their hands on them.

“Look at the hand grenades,” he said. “They will steal them and use them against us.” —Reuters