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— By Rosalind Russell

BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) - People and cars flooded the streets of Basra on Tuesday, a day after British forces entered the heart of Iraq's second largest city, with many residents angry over a lack of water and breakdown of law and order.

The paratroopers who walked into town on Monday have left, but a dozen British tanks took up position at major intersections as soldiers began distributing water at four points.

"All we're doing today is providing a presence to allow people to feel confident to come out onto the street and do what they want to do," said Captain Giles Malec.

The mood on the street around the troops was one of excitement. In the city's main square, a portrait of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein that loomed large had been taken down.

But residents away from the soldiers complained the water was not enough.

Salah Abdul Sadour, 64, said: "To get Saddam out, the Iraqi people have become hungry and thirsty. What are these soldiers doing? We haven't got anything from them."

Outside Basra General Hospital a woman shouted: "Where is their aid? Where is their money? All we have is dirty water."

Captain Niall Brennan of the Irish Guard said water and electricity supplies to Basra were cut off by the Iraqi government.

He said electricity was now restored to most of the city and water treatment plants were also repaired. But he said damaged and polluted water distribution canals needed to be mended and he did not know how long that would take.

People were also angry about looting, which began as British troops sought to take control of Basra.

The looting had subsided on Tuesday but mainly young men and boys could still be seen making off with anything they could carry on carts and wheelbarrows.

At war headquarters in Qatar, Group Captain Al Lockwood told Reuters: "I think we can safely say now the city has been liberated...It's not quite secure yet, there may be some pockets of resistance."

"Basra now has been quiet overnight and through the day today we'll be conducting searches to locate any pockets of resistance that do exist," Lockwood said.

"Life is very much back to normal there," he said, adding that bus services were running in the city already.

Lockwood said British forces had found a large number of weapons in the city that needed to be secured and they were still prepared to deal with any small elements of resistance.

"Yesterday we had elements of the 3rd Parachute Regiment going into the old city where we had our last pockets of resistance. The resistance basically melted away," he said.

Some residents made clear they did not want British troops to stay.

Hassan Abulazak shouted up to one of the tanks: "When are you going home? Soldier go away. We can look after our country now." (Additional reporting by Claudia Parsons in Qatar)

photo credit and caption:

A member of 21 Squadron in Britain's 3 Regular Army Air Corps, 16 Air Assault Brigade, walks beside an Iraqi boy near the city of Basra in southern Iraq, April 7, 2003. British and U.S. troops walked unopposed almost to the center of Basra for the first time on Monday. Photo by Pool/Reuters

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