By first light, the heavy Marine presence had completely vanished from Baghdad's streets and was replaced by small numbers of soldiers from the army's Third Infantry Division (3ID) deployed at street corners.

Elements of the Fourth Infantry Division (4ID) had also moved into the capital while the 101st Airborne remained at the international airport.

"We took over about 3:00 am (11:00 GMT Friday) from the Marines and right now we're trying to get a handle on what they've already figured out," Staff Sergeant Nicholas King said.

Along the cordon outside the Palestine and Sheraton hotels where the Marines were based, the 3ID had positioned one Bradley Fighting Vehicle and one Abrams tank on each corner as about 100 Iraqi civilians protested the US occupation.

At the main entrance, one Iraqi man berated the troops, yelling: "Get out and leave Iraqi oil alone." His theatrics were relentless as the guard stood stony-faced, feigning indifference.

The army's top priority will be the reconstruction of essential services across the country with the initial emphasis on electricity, water, sewage, hospitals and law and order. It will have its work cut out.

Ten days after the fall of Saddam Hussein, promised US efforts to rebuild the country shattered by two wars and a dozen years of UN sanctions have got off to a halting start.

Most shops remain closed in the capital of five million people, electricity has been out for more than two weeks and police patrols have started back slowly after a wave of looting and vandalism.

Iraqis have also been frustrated by the absence of a US civil authority. Jay Garner, the retired US general named to oversee the reconstruction effort, has yet to show his face in Baghdad and no other spokesmen are around.

The Marines announced the establishment of a civil-military operations center (CMOC) at the Palestine Hotel in central Baghdad which a statement said was aimed at "drafting a roadmap of success for Iraqi citizens.

Marine officials said they hoped to restore electricity to more than half the population by Friday, a promised unfulfilled by the time they folded their tents without a word to the local population.

As a measure of the chaos the army faces in taking over here, military legal experts will have to grapple with the destruction of masses of documents, from wills and land titles to marriage licenses.

"It's going to be a mess," said Sergeant Anna Brogan, an army civil affairs specialist. "We did this in Bosnia: 'This is my house. No this is my house. Well, I have a certificate.'"

Nor is the political situation clearer on the Iraqi side, which features a self-proclaimed governor and a mayor of Baghdad whom the US military refuse to take seriously, and a shadowy, ragtag militia whose role and clout is unknown.

Ahmad Chalabi, probably the best known opposition leader, did little to clarify the situation, announcing Iraq would have its own government within two years, but adding he would play no part.

"I am not a candidate for any position in the interim government. My role is to help rebuild Iraq," Chalabi, the head of the Iraqi National Congress (INC) which boasts Pentagon support, told a news conference Friday.

The army civil affairs personnel said they would coordinate the work of the growing number of relief groups operating in Iraq and were trained in crowd control.

"We don't want to be like the British in Basra where the riots spiralled out of control," said Brogan, referring to a looting spree that erupted in the southern port city.

SPACE.WIRE