Looters run amok in Basra as British hunt militiamen

Basra appeared to fall finally into British hands yesterday. Emerging from their tanks, parked besides a Saddam Hussein mural, the British soldiers accepted yellow and pink carnations from a crowd of people who cheered and gave them the thumbs-up.

It was a reaction mistakenly expected at the start from a city that had swiftly revolted against the Iraqi regime 12 years ago only to be crushed. For the British – responsible for the southern city as the Americans forged north to Baghdad – it had been a lengthy game of patience – encircling Basra while trying to decapitate the regime without crushing the body beneath.

Yesterday, almost unexpectedly, the city fell with little resistance as a massive convoy of 700 mainly British infantry, guarded by tanks and helicopters, entered unopposed into the heart of Basra. With little warning, the leadership and resistance appeared to have melted away, apparently killed or defeated by concerted attacks on bases.

Many of the people of Basra, who had endured 18 days of hardship, often deprived of water and electricity, celebrated by helping themselves to whatever they could find.

Even the grand piano from the Sheraton Hotel was pushed away down the street as other people loaded up vehicles and donkey-drawn carts with chairs and sofas.

The rattle of gunfire echoed through the streets as looters ransacked official buildings. Near a college of further education, a young man was dragging a metal handcart behind him and was keen to get his share of the loot at his alma mater. "I need air-conditioning units," he said. "It gets very hot and we do not have any in the people's houses."

Ahead of him, streams of people were running into the college, leaping the metal fences surrounding it. They returned laden with all manner of objects: furniture, ceiling fans, electric lights, fistfuls of marker pens and even floorboards. Under the Geneva Conventions it is the responsibility of the occupying force to protect the civilian population and to prevent "pillage" but yesterday British soldiers, still battling a few diehard militia, could do little but watch. Captain Mike Taylor, of the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, said: "Our problem now is also looting. But unless someone is a direct threat, we don't engage. We don't have the resources to deal with the problem right now."

One Iraqi said: "They [British soldiers] have to stop this stealing; they are not doing anything about it."

An ugly smear of fresh blood all over a road showed the difficulties facing British troops as they try to restore law and order. The blood came from a car thief who had stolen a taxi from Basra's teaching hospital, only to run into a patrol of well-armed Royal Marines. He refused to stop and the British troops fired, hitting him several times. He died moments later.

"There are thieves coming from everywhere," Ahmed Abdul Muttalib, a postgraduate surgeon at the hospital who witnessed the incident, said. "They think there is no government and they are taking whatever they can; drugs, fuel, uniforms or cars."

President Saddam may be gone from Basra. But the city is far from safe. In the grounds of a building next door to the college, the corpse of a militiaman lay face down in the dust. It was impossible to say if he had been gunned down by British troops or as revenge by local people. Certainly, military intelligence reports have suggested that reprisals against those linked to the former regime have already begun.

Many are leaving – now they can – to hunt for supplies. One man said: "The situation is not good. There is no water in the city. All the citizens are very thirsty.

"On television and radio, they promised to give us water, but all we have is air."