They set up a checkpoint at a crossroads on the road leading northeast to Kirkuk, in a bid to protect their village, which like the rest of the country is living in a security void following the collapse of Saddam's regime.

"Those who are going straight to Tikrit don't have problems, we let them pass. But no one can go right" toward Obeid, said resident Emir Mohammed.

The fall of the northern cities of Kirkuk and Mosul to US-backed Kurdish forces late last week sparked a wave of looting in both places over the weekend, as well as violence, notably between Arabs and Kurds.

On Sunday, stretched US forces in Mosul mobilized some local police in a bid to restore order. But the pillaging and looting spread to the villages as well.

The looting wave was made all the worse by the years of oppression of the Kurds under Saddam Hussein's regime, whose property and officials became a target once its authority collapsed.

In Tikrit, residents have also taken up arms, and each house has at least one Kalashnikov assault rifle.

Taking their cue from Baghdad and other cities, looters have started emptying Tikrit's public buildings. But houses were also targeted, and on the outskirts the sound of shooting resonates, evidence of residents clashing with looters.

On the bridge across the Tigris river leading into Tikrit, American troops are searching all vehicles, seizing weapons and marking them. But once the visitors leave Tikrit, the weapons are returned.

Near their checkpoint, armed Obeid residents have also taken up positions along the sides of the road. "The Kurds want to steal everything from us, our new cars, our electric generators," said Awad Mohammed.

Further up the road, an Iraqi military truck carrying a Soviet-built Sam missile lay overturned from US fire. Witnesses said looters in the area tried to carry off the missile, but without success.

"The Kurds also want my wife, to have fun with her, they also want the children. Why, I would rather kill myself than let them do that," Mohammed said, reflecting years of ethnic distrust.

One man on lookout announced that some looters were approaching. The twenty or so armed men ran to their positions, but it turned out to be a false alarm.

In Mosul over the weekend some 20 people were killed and more than 200 wounded in intercommunal fighting between Arabs and Kurds. US-backed Kurdish forces had taken the city Friday, and Arab residents accused the Kurds of going on a rampage.

The situation in the city calmed a little when the Kurdish forces started pulling out of Mosul Sunday to be replaced by US troops.

SPACE.WIRE