Mosul: Iraqi forces have abandoned the Northern city of Mosul, witnesses said.
Looting broke out as Kurdish forces reached the outskirts of the country's third
largest city and one of the last strongholds of the Iraqi troops.
The US-linked Kurdish fighters set up checkpoints leading into the town centre.
People were waving flags of the Kurdish Democratic Party.
The fall of the city to the coalition would leave Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's ancestral
home, as the last major population centre still in Iraqi hands.
Abu Dhabi TV showed pictures from the centre of the city, where looters grabbed cash
from the city's bank. Bills littered the street.
One person was seen carrying a pack of Iraqi Dinars. Another had what appeared to be
stacks of bound packages of Iraqi Dinars loaded under his T-shirt.
Four people carried a bag that appeared stuffed with money. Some threw paper money
in the air, while others tried to retrieve the cash.
Gunmen, apparently Kurdish fighters, arrived at the Central Bank branch in Mosul and
started swinging their guns to force looters to leave. The fighters fired their AK-
47 assault rifles into the air, Abu Dhabi TV footage showed.
Pictures broadcast by Abu Dhabi television showed one man climbing to the roof of a
building to dismantle an antenna.
On the square in front of the government house, people set fire to a picture of what
the reporter called the "portrait of the former President."
"What is happening shouldn't happen," said one man of the looting. "This is
barbaric. This is not Saddam's money. This is the nation's and the people's money."
Another man said Saddam should be put on trial. "We Iraqis call on the United
Nations and the coalition forces to hunt for Saddam, (his sons) Odai, Qusay and all
the war criminals who have caused the destruction and the demise of Iraq to be put
on trial…for the deaths of people for the past 30 years," he said.
A third man complained about the looting of the Central Bank branch in Mosul. "This
is people's money. I have an account in the bank. All my money is gone," he said.
The government House in Central Mosul was empty of any Iraqi government presence.
Television pictures showed writing on the front of the building that read, "Yes, yes
for leader Saddam Hussein."
Citizens walked into the building out of curiosity. One man walked out carrying a
filing cabinet, another was stuffing an orange and white taxi's trunk with looted
goods, including a TV aerial.
US led forces started moving into Mosul early on April 11, according to Defence
Secretary Donald H Rumsfeld. He said small numbers of US and Kurdish forces had
started entering Mosul to begin the process of taking weapons from Iraqi forces.
"It is an orderly process and the forces that are entering are being welcomed by the
people," he said.
Television pictures and witnesses provided no evidence of US troops.
