"Our operations are finished," said General "Mam" Rostam.

He ruled out participation by PUK fighters in actions against Tikrit, the native city of Saddam Hussein that lies between Kirkuk and Baghdad.

Rostam told AFP earlier that Kurdish fighters had been ordered out of Kirkuk, which they captured on Thursday, sparking alarm in neighbouring Turkey.

US forces were to replace the Kurdish troops, known as peshmergas, by Saturday at the latest.

PUK fighters were at the forefront of Kirkuk's capture, tipping rivals from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) for the honor of taking the historic Kurdish city and oil production center which Saddam Hussein's troops seized after crushing a Kurdish uprising in 1991.

Iraq's northern neighbor Turkey, struggling with the issue of Kurdish independence on its own soil, is closely monitoring the situation in Kirkuk.

Ankara has threatened to send its own troops into Iraq if necessary to prevent the creation of an independent Kurdish state.

But Rostam said a plan would be prepared with US officers and representatives of local Kurd, Arab, Turkmen and Assyrian populations for governing the city, where the situation was reportedly spinning out of control on Friday.

Washington pledged Thursday that US troops would take control of the city, but me peshmergas were expected to stay on in a law-enforcement capacity.

The Kurdish general said his forces would remain around Kirkuk if necessary but that most planned to return to their homes.

SPACE.WIRE