IRAQ

Guardian: Pro-Saddam Gangs Challenge US Control Of Tikrit

TIKRIT -- Gangs of Arab tribesmen armed with Kalashnikovs and machine guns were still in control of much of Tikrit last night, a day after US marines apparently liberated the town.

Hours after the Pentagon announced the war in Iraq was virtually over, Arab youths established their own checkpoint on the edge of Saddam Hussein's former stronghold.

They shot dead at least one Kurd, leaving his body in the middle of a roundabout, and opened fire on several cars while shouting pro-Saddam slogans.

American marines control Tikrit's almost deserted main square and the road south to Baghdad, as well as the main bridge spanning the Tigris. But they have failed to establish a presence on the eastern side of theriver, where hundreds of youths loyal to Saddam are holed up.

Light armoured vehicles have mounted reconnaissance patrols, but the armed tribesmen vanish whenever the Americans turn up and reappear only when they leave.