Global Policy Forum

By Jack Fairweather

Hundreds of bullet casings litter the ground where an American soldier was killed and two wounded in Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's home town, in one of an increasingly regular series of attacks against coalition forces.

A barrage of American fire failed to stop two Iraqi men armed with rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47s dashing from a car and firing into the US compound. Gaping holes in the front of the American headquarters mark where the RPG rounds struck just below the sandbagged sentry position where the soldier was killed.

"There was nothing we could do," said Specialist Giles Mosaics, who was on guard during the attack. "By the time we started shooting, they were already driving off. We gave chase but they disappeared." Patrols have since been doubled and an information campaign opened to explain the virtues of American occupation but in the tense atmosphere of the town there can be no disguising that the brief honeymoon period since liberation is over. American forces in central Iraq are now coming under daily fire in what is tentatively being called the beginnings of a resistance movement.

Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, said yesterday: "I do not think [assaults on coalition forces] are going to disappear in the next month or two or three. It will take time to root out the remnants of Saddam Hussein's regime and we intend to do it." The attacks are growing in sophistication. In the troubled area to the west of Baghdad, eight soldiers have been killed over the past fortnight, taking to 42 the number of US servicemen who have died in fighting or accidents in Iraq since May 1, when President George W Bush declared that major military operations were over.

"It can be a little tense but generally we have an excellent relationship with the Iraqis," said a soldier on guard at the American compound in Tikrit as Iraqis stood outside denouncing the US presence."The Americans promised us liberation," said Abdul Hamid, a shopkeeper, "but we have no water, electricity and no protection from the Ali Babas [thieves]. I will give them a month and then I will start fighting against them."

Falluja, where US soldiers killed 18 demonstrators at a pro-Saddam rally soon after the war, remains the centre of anti-American feelings. The town's garrison has been reinforced by 10,000 men in an effort to maintain law and order. No figures exist for the number of Iraqis killed so far in post-war Iraq, but over the weekend in Falluja alone five were shot by US soldiers.

Amal Ahmed, who was in an angry mob in the market place, described how his cousin was killed. "He was sitting at a cafe, when a group of Iraqis threw a hand grenade at the mayor's compound," he said. "The Americans began shooting very wildly. "Although my cousin was sitting far away, he was hit by three bullets. It has made me want to pick up a gun and attack Americans. I wish Saddam was still here to protect us."

• David Rennie in Washington writes: Attacks on US soldiers in Iraq are fuelled by the belief that killing an American will bring a cash bounty from Saddam, who is reported to be in hiding north of Baghdad, the returned Iraqi exile leader Ahmad Chalabi claimed yesterday. Mr Chalabi, whose supporters provided America with much of its pre-war intelligence, said the Iraqi leader was alive and believed that he could eject the occupation forces.

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