The first talks on the future of Iraq have ended with an agreement to meet again in 10 days time.
The talks, attended by Iraqi political and religious leaders, and US and British officials, were overshadowed by an incident in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul in which US troops reportedly fired on a crowd protesting at the new pro-US governor.
At least 10 people died as many as 100 were injured, witnesses and doctors said.
Talks participants met at a makeshift US air base beside the remains of the ancient Mesopotamian city of Ur in southern Iraq in a tent pitched next to the famed ziggurat temple.
However, in nearby Nassiriya, thousands of Iraqis protested that they did not need American help now Saddam Hussein had gone.
Witnesses reported that US troops had fired into a crowd which was becoming increasingly hostile towards the new governor in the northern oil city, Mr Mashaan al-Juburi, as he was making a pro-US speech.
The shootings in Mosul, if confirmed, are sure to ignite anti-US sentiment sparked in protests in Baghdad and at the talks in the southern city of Nasiriyah.
The charges were denied by a US military spokesman in the city,who said troops had first come under fire from at least two gunmenand fired back, without aiming at the crowd.
The Pentagon has said it is not yet prepared to declare victory after nearly four weeks of war on Iraq, but US commanders expressed hope the main stage of hostilities was over with the fall of Saddam's hometown of Tikrit yesterday.
The commander of a 16,000-strong Iraqi military unit surrendered control of an area of western Iraq extending to the Syrian border.
US officials switched their focus to neighbouring Syria, alleging that Damascus has been developing weapons of mass destruction, prompting appeals for calm from the United Nations and Arab and European governments.
The US-sponsored meeting in Nasiriyah was the first since the launch of the war on March 20th and was billed as a major step forward in the search for a new Iraqi leadership.
But the man tipped to become Iraq's next leader, Mr Ahmad Chalabi, head of the US-backed Iraqi National Congress, did not attend. Iraq's leading Shiite Muslim opposition group was also boycotting the talks amid distrust over the US role and division over who should lead Iraq.
Mr Chalabi, who has insisted he is not a candidate for a post in the interim administration to be run by retired US general Jay Garner, planned to send a representative.
Dozens of representatives from Iraq's mix of ethnic, tribal and opposition groups, including those formerly in exile, were said to be invited although no official list was given.
AFP