Doctors stay at home to keep looters away

Only 50 of 150 doctors at Basra Teaching Hospital showed up for work yesterday – the others stayed at home to protect their families from looters.

The hospital, one of three in the city, is struggling to cope with the flood of war casualties, and British forces are being blamed for the human toll of the war as well as the chaos in the streets.

"We thought when they entered the city, they would prepare an administration to take control," said Dr Janan Peter al-Sabah, the hospital's chief of surgery. "We don't need food or water. What we lack is safety and protection. Our message to the coalition troops is to take responsibility for the security of the people, of the homes, of the facilities."

Basra was calm yesterday, after the civil disorder that broke out on Monday when British forces moved in to the city. Gunmen had stormed the hospital and left with a car and some medical equipment. In response, British soldiers are guarding the buildings and snipers have been placed on rooftops, but doctors say it's not enough.