Annan urged the invaders to respect international commitments to maintain law and order

BAGHDAD, April 11 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – U.S. troops and Kurdish forces have begun moving into Iraq's largest northern city, Mosul, with no apparent Iraqi resistance, as the Kurds prepared to hand over oil-rich Kirkuk to Americans, at Turkey’s request.

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said U.S. and Kurdish troops were entering Mosul - Iraq's third largest city - with no apparent Iraqi resistance, reported the BBC online news service.

"There appears to be an opportunity for the regular Iraqi forces to turn in their weapons and no longer pose a threat, in which case Kurdish forces and US forces in small numbers are in the process of moving into Mosul," he told reporters.

"To my knowledge, at last hearing, it is an orderly process and the forces that are entering are being welcomed by the people," the Defense Secretary said.

Lieutenant Colonel Robert Waltemeyer, commander of a U.S. special forces unit north of Mosul, said Kurdish troops would not be allowed to take the city - as they did in Kirkuk Thursday, ignoring a specific U.S. request.

You Freed Kirkuk, Now Get Out

Kurdish fighters captured Kirkuk amid ecstatic scenes Thursday – but were immediately warned their takeover would be brief.

America promised Turkey they would force the Kurds to withdraw, reported British Daily Mirror.

And the Turks, who fear the establishment of an independent Kurdish state, is sending military observers to make sure they do get out.

The move raises again fears of a “war within a war” in northern Iraq. Yet, those fears seemed a long way off as the Kurds stormed into Kirkuk to a huge welcome.

Iraqi soldiers laid down their arms and fled south towards Tikrit after an American B-52 bombed their positions in the outskirts. There was little resistance and little bloodshed. US Special Forces, who had been helping fight the Iraqis faded into the background to give the Kurds their moment of victory.

Peshmerga guerillas swarmed into the streets wearing their trademark baggy green trousers and bandanas and firing into the air.

Kirkuk, with 800,000 residents, has been under repressive rule for 12 years. Iraqi Kurds regard it as their capital, but Turkey fear they could use the city’s huge oil wealth to fund independence and rally Turkish Kurds.

Turkey has thousands of troops massed on the border but Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said there were “no immediate plans” for an invasion.

He said he had reached an accord with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell for the Kurds to withdraw. “I hope that this mistake will be fixed immediately,” he said.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said: “We’ve been in contact with officials in Turkey as well as free Iraqis in the north and I think it is fair to say that American forces will be in control of Kirkuk.”

It is thought that U.S. paratroopers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade will move in shortly to take control.

A senior Kurdish official told the BBC both Iraqi Kurdish parties had given instructions for their forces inside Kirkuk to move back to their original positions on Friday.

Baghdad In Chaos

“You freed Kirkuk, now get out,” Kurds are told

In the center of the occupied Iraqi capital, five ministries were set on fire and looters pillaged the German embassy and the French cultural center.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said the military campaign had taken a heavy toll, urging the United States and Britain to respect international commitments to maintain law and order, amid the anarchy on Baghdad's streets.

"When you think of the casualties, both military and civilian, the Iraqis have paid a heavy price for this," he said, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP). "It appears there is no functioning government in Iraq at the moment."

Not All Iraqis Pleased

A tip that Saddam was hiding in a Baghdad mosque led to a firefight between marines and Saddam loyalists along the northern banks of the Tigris river.

Shooting at the mosque and at a presidential palace complex led to the death of a marine and the wounding of 20 more. U.S. combat helicopters came to the aid of the troops and at least five Iraqi civilians were killed, witnesses said.

The battle was a stark reminder that not everyone in Baghdad was pleased to see U.S. troops in the city.

U.S. troops also clashed with isolated Iraqi loyalists and Saddam's Fedayeen paramilitary units in various parts of the city.

"Baghdad is still an ugly place. Many parts of the city are either not secured by U.S. forces and in other parts there are paramilitary forces or Republican Guards," Major General Victor Renuart said.

In other developments, U.S. Central Command says six precision-guided bombs have been dropped on the home of a half-brother of Saddam Hussein, Barzan Ibrahim Hasan al-Tikriti - a former head of the Iraqi secret police - at Ramadi, about 100 kilometers west of the capital. 

Looters ransack Baghdad hospitals, according to International Red Cross officials.