A Red Cross team found the situation at the former Saddam Hospital in Nasiriyah to be "less alarming than feared", the Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said in a statement.

In the next few days, the ICRC was due to carry out repairs on the city's water pumping stations and to thoroughly survey the population's needs in terms of food, water and medical care.

For the first time since the outbreak of the US-led war, an IRCR team also gained access to the northeastern oil city of Kirkuk, the statement said.

"Many armed looters were spotted around the town. Most shops were closed and the big main market empty," the statement said.

All of the city's government buildings and industrial facilites had been burned or looted and the city was still deprived of water and electricity.

However, the 450-bed City Hospital on the outskirts of Kirkuk was largely intact, it said.

"Only few items have been stolen. Many of the staff -- 140 out of 240 -- have left the hospital.... Water, fuel and power from back-up generators are available for emergency needs," it said.

In central Kirkuk, the 250-bed Al-Tamin General Hospital -- formerly the Jamhuri Hospital -- remained operational during the past few days of fighting in Kirkuk, although it was partly looted and damaged on Friday, the statement said.

Water and electricity were provided by a generator and medical supplies were sufficient to address the most urgent needs, it said.

The Red Cross said on Sunday several Baghdad hospitals were still without water and power and the breakdown of law and order was making it difficult to improve conditions.

In the southern city of Basra, the organisation said supplies of water and medical aid were slightly better, thanks in part to security steps taken by British forces.

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