US shoots into crowd of protestors killing 10-12, wounding 100

AS SAYLIYA CAMP, Qatar (Reuters) - U.S. troops killed at least seven Iraqis ["at least" is US media talk aimed at lessening casualties; AFP reported 10-12 deaths] in Mosul when a demonstration against their presence in the northern city turned violent on Tuesday, a U.S. official said on Wednesday.

Iraq's third largest city has been plagued by looting and violence since the Iraqi army gave it up without a fight last Friday.

A prominent Kurdish-backed leader in the city accused U.S. forces of stoking tensions by raising the Stars and Stripes over the building. In an interview with al-Jazeera television, Mashaan al-Juburi, the so-called governor of the city some 240 miles north of Baghdad, said the trouble erupted during an anti-U.S. protest.

"I was standing in the middle of protesters. I tried to calm them," he said. "When people saw the U.S. forces enter the (governor's) building and raise the American flag, they seethed and started stoning the U.S. forces."

Within hours of falling to U.S. and Kurdish fighters last Friday, the city, which is a focus of historic rivalry between Arabs and Kurds, descended into anarchy as looters swooped on public buildings in a frenzy of arson and plunder.

BANK ROBBERY SHOOT-OUT

In a sign that the city was still plagued by law and order problems, Juburi said three people were killed on Wednesday in a bank robbery.

Jazeera quoted an Iraqi policeman as saying police fired shots in an attempt to stop the robbery and, in the confusion, U.S. troops fired back in their direction.

It showed pictures of two children hurt in the shoot-out, both of whom said they were hit by Americans.