"The ICRC urgently appeals to the coalition forces and all other persons in authority to do everything possible to protect essential infrastructure, such as hospitals and water supply and evacuation systems, from looting and destruction," the Geneva-based organization said in a statement.

In Baghdad, shopkeepers shot at looters as the city plunged into anarchy. Looting broke out in other towns and cities abandoned by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's regime.

The ICRC said it was "profoundly alarmed by the chaos currently prevailing in Baghdad and other parts of Iraq."

It noted that coalition forces had "specific responsibilities as occupying powers", including "taking all measures in their power to restore and maintain, as far as possible, public order and safety by putting an halt to pillage and to violence against civilians and civilian facilities."

"The problem today is not human resources, it's not a problem of logistics, the key problem we have in Baghdad and in other parts of Iraq is simply insecurity and lack of access, and that in a situation of extreme need," Balthasar Staehelin, ICRC chief delegate for the Middle East told journalists.

"As a humanitarian agency, we do not have the answer to that, we do not have the key," he added.

The ICRC's appeal for US troops to provide security was widely echoed, even by those who oppose the United States taking the leading role in rebuilding Iraq.

"First humanitarian aid should be delivered to people in secure conditions, then we can talk about the next stage," German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said in Berlin.

"Security is in the hands of those forces in the country. But reconstruction can only be carried out under the legitimacy of the international community," said French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin during a visit to the Spanish capital Madrid.

ICRC president Jakob Kellenberger indicated that he had gone public with the appeal following "high level" contacts with coalition forces on Wednesday.

Despite reports that US armour had moved in to guard some hospitals, Kellenberger said: "We have made a specific request, some progress has been made, but a lot more needs to be done".

The ICRC president said he wanted to "underline these obligations and by this to increase the sense of urgency... and we do expect them to do the utmost".

Officials from the ICRC -- which is one of the few international agencies to work deep inside Iraq since the US-led invasion started -- said it also backed appeals by other aid agencies for more help to allow aid convoys safely into the country..

Staehelin described a "dramatic" situation inside Baghdad, including the "virtual collapse" of the health system, with the 32 hospitals stripped, left without water or electricity, while doctors and nurses could not reach patients because it was too dangerous.

"The medical system cannot cope today and the surgical capacity certainly not," he said.

"We're talking about a town of some five million inhabitants, where hospitals are basically not functioning any longer, where medical staff cannot work, there are hygiene problems, summer temperatures, bodies unattended to," he insisted.

Major hospitals in the Iraqi capital had been destroyed to the extent that the war wounded could not stay, according to Staehelin.

"I'm sure the families will do whatever they can to take care of them. Whether this will be adequate care for sometimes very serious wounds, I very much doubt," he said.

The ICRC also reported a "public backlash" against looting in the southern city of Basra, with looters being stoned and mosques issuing calls for calm.

SPACE.WIRE