RAMADI, Iraq, June 11 (Islamonline.net & News Agencies) - A new breed of brigand is plaguing Baghdad's main international highway, robbing everyone and everything, unlike the post-war looting which targeted only wealthy symbols of the ousted old regime.

Widespread robberies have left Iraqis almost nostalgic for the nobler Robin Hood figures, many of them from the long-oppressed Shiite majority, Agence France - Presse (AFP) reported on June 11.

"Even if they were thieves, at least the Ali Baba were brave and had the excuse that they were plundering the palaces of those who once tortured people and stole their belongings," says Enmar al-Harethi, a minibus driver in the town of Ramadi close to the Baghdad to Amman and Damascus motorway.

"The Ali Mama have no real courage, they're just sissies who pick on vulnerable people, hold them up at gunpoint and steal the little they have before running away," Harethi added.

Baba, "daddy" in Arabic, is a direct reference to "Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves", a famous tale of the One Thousand and One Nights. Mama means "mummy," and is used by residents as a term of abuse for the new gangs terrorizing travelers.

Harethi says the beat-up, white minibus he drives on the Baghdad-Ramadi highway saved him. It is no catch for the thieves.

"Thankfully, the Ali Mama aren't interested because nobody would buy it, not even for 100 (Iraqi) dinars (10 cents)," he jokes as he starts the engine with a deafening roar and drives away in a thick cloud of black smoke.

Rather, the thieves are after brand new vehicles: they show off people's wealth and can be resold at a hefty price.

Media convoys driving in from Amman with expensive equipment and large sums of hard currency have been a particular target for attack - there have been no commercial flights since the beginning of the U.S.-led invasion in March.

"They bring shame on us. Foreign journalists now paint us as thieves," complains Hammad, who works in a gas station in downtown Ramadi.

Residents say Ramadi's location, at a crossroads near two large stretches of desert, allows road pirates to easily vanish with their bounty, especially since police patrols here ceased with the U.S. forces rolling into and the fall of Saddam's regime.

"Thieves were around even under Saddam, but robberies were isolated acts. Now they're commonplace," says Qais Al-Elwani, the gas station's owner.

"Look at this safe box," he says, pointing at an old coffer encased in the wall.

"I used to store ten days' worth of income in there, now I take all my money home with me and this safe is only for decoration because the Ali Mama could knock out the guard and take it away."

Iraqis charge that U.S. forces encourage the thieves by turning a blind eye.

"They have turned the Iraqi people into a jobless bunch, forced to steal to survive," says Elwani.

"Americans don't feel concerned about the security of Iraqis; the only thing they care about is what there is inside this," says Hammad, pointing his finger at the gas pump, in reference to the widely held view here that Washington only went to invasion for Iraq's oil reserves, the world’s fourth largest.

At Ramadi's entrance, two teenagers hack through the highway's crash barriers undisturbed.

They briefly stop, waving their saws at a U.S. convoy driving by, before carting off the metal to sell for scrap.

Anti-American feelings are rife in the country, as the U.S. forces did not find alleged weapons of mass destruction, the main justification for launching the invasion.

More than 30 U.S. soldiers have been killed in separate attacks in Iraq, as complaints of poor security situation and an American military inaction to form a national representative country are on the rise among ordinary people across the country.

Challenged about the spate of attacks on journalists around Ramadi last month, a U.S.-led forces spokesman insisted there was little that British or U.S. forces could do.

"It's 400 kilometers (250 miles) from Ramadi to the border," he said. "It would be impossible for us to outpost every section of the highway."