Although Asa'd said he was not given a clear reason why he would not be rehired, Asa'd suspected his former membership of deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's ruling Baath party was one factor.

"But I was far away from the politics," Asa'd protested in the courtyard of the police station as hundreds of his former colleagues stood in line to register for a new US-controlled security force.

"I never took part in any bad things. I just provided security for this town."

Asa'd also admitted that he was on guard with a gun at the police station when US marines stormed down the road last month during the ferocious week-long battle for control of the city.

Forces loyal to Saddam surprised the US military with their determined stand at Nasiriyah, which resulted in some of the heaviest urban fighting of the war.

The police station was obviously used as an Iraqi military base during the battle, with two destroyed anti-aircraft batteries still pointing out from shattered windows in its main building.

US marines at the station on Thursday also said there were a lot of spent rifle cartidges scattered around various rooms.

However Asa'd again professed his innocence, saying he did not take part in any resistance against the US soldiers.

"I didn't shoot at anything," he said, adding his 10 colleagues on duty also did not fight.

"They (the US marines) respected us because we didn't attack them."

Asa'd claimed other colleagues with similar histories to him were bribing local Iraqi authorities to get their old jobs back.

Asa'd's story highlights the difficult task ahead for the US military as it strives to re-establish Iraqi security forces while sifting out the worst elements of Saddam's feared regime.

Gunnery Sergeant Andrew Esposito, who was in charge of the registering process at the Nasiriyah police station on Thursday, admitted it was nearly impossible for US forces to determine who would make a worthy policeman.

He said the US military was allowing a newly formed town council and a former Iraqi police colonel to have the leading role in the process and was largely relying on them to ensure the credibility of the new police force.

"We are trying let them do it alone as much as possible," Esposito said.

Esposito said less than 300 policeman out of a previous force of 4,000 would intially be rehired, and they were expected to return to duty next week.

Some of them will be armed, he said, and their roles will primarily involve providing security for important civil facilities, such as hospitals, food storage centres and schools.

However Esposito said the marines would first give them lessons on ethics and the "rules of force", and US soldiers would accompany them on duty.

"The rules are going to change a bit from what they are used to," he said.

SPACE.WIRE