From Baghdad to Mosul in the north and Nasiriyah in the south, the American effort to follow up their quick military victory with a program of economic and political reconstruction ran into Iraqi opposition.

In Mosul, a hospital doctor reported 12 people dead and 60 wounded after shooting erupted when a crowd of Iraqis turned hostile during a speech by an American-installed local governor.

Witnesses claimed US troops had opened fire on the throng. But a US military spokesman said troops had come under fire from at least two gunmen and fired back, without aiming at the crowd.

Whatever the truth, the incident prompted a torrent of anti-American invective. A wrecked car sat in the city square and ambulances ferried wounded to hospitals, while US aircraft made repeated low-altitude passes.

In Nasiriyah, some 20,000 mostly Shiite demonstrators provided a vocal counterpoint to a US-organized meeting of Iraqi opposition leaders to discuss the country's political future.

The protesters marched to the center of town chanting "Yes to freedom ... Yes to Islam ... No to America, No to Saddam" while the political forum was held under tight security at the nearby Biblical city of Ur.

"We want the American and British forces to go. They have freed us from Saddam and their job is finished," said Ihsan Mohammad, an official with the regional federation of engineers.

"If they intend to occupy us, we will oppose that. We ask them to leave us free to decide our future and not to impose people on us."

The US-sponsored forum grouping about 80 exiles, opposition figures and tribal and religious leaders ended with a pledge to work for a democratic Iraq and to hold more talks in 10 days.

But Iraq's leading Shiite opposition group boycotted the meeting and another key leader sent only a representative, amid distrust over the US role and internal division on how to craft a representative government.

In Baghdad, some 200-300 Iraqis gathered outside the Palestine Hotel, where the US marines have set up an operations base, for a third straight day of protests against the US occupation.

For the first time, visibly angered US military officials sought to distance the media from the protest, moving reporters and cameras about 30 meters (yards) from the barbed-wired entrance to the hotel.

"We want you to pull back to the back of the hotel because they (the Iraqis) are only performing because the media are here," said a marine colonel who wore the name Zarcone but would not give his first name or title.

The crowd later moved to the nearby square where the statue of Saddam was toppled Wednesday to signal the end of the regime. As three of the marines' armored amphibious vehicles passed by, they chanted: "No, no, USA."

Although US officials have all but declared their military campaign over, tensions with the civilian population persist over a lack of police protection, water, electricity and other basic services.

As the Iraqi protest grew more vocal outside the hotel, a marine corporal was holding an impromptu briefing for a few reporters on the progress made.

Corporal John Hoellwarth said the US forces planned to boost joint police patrols, bring more hospitals back into service and have power restored to parts of Baghdad within 72 hours.

He said 50 electrical engineers were brought in to assess the damage to the power system of the capital, which went down April 4 amid massive US bombings, and repairs began Monday.

"We expect power to be restored to parts of Baghdad in the next 48 to 72 hours," he said.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said separately that water should be restored to much of eastern Baghdad on Wednesday as its staff repaired the Qanat pumping station.

"Our engineers worked for 12 years to get these pumping stations working. They know them like the back of their hand," said ICRC spokesman Roland Huguenin-Benjamin.

He said the power outages were also preventing the distrubtion of water.

With Baghdad's hospital system in a virtual state of collapse after widespread pillage, Hoellwarth said 14 of the city's 33 facilities were secure and operational. He could not say when the others would reopen.

Hoellwarth said that joint Iraqi-US police patrols began Monday with five Iraqi cars going out accompanied by marines in all-terrain Humvees, and "today many more patrols are running."

He said that US forces put out a call for 150 Iraqi policemen on Monday and had between 700 and 1,000 reporting for duty.

"They are progressing steadily and we are also working to work out neighborhood watch programs," Hoellwarth said.

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