Deeply concerned over the anarchic turn of events in Iraq, Amnesty International charged the US-led forces on Tuesday with being more concerned about Iraqi oil well than the Iraqi people.

“There seems to be have been more preparation to protect the oil wells than to protect hospitals, water systems or civilians,� lamented Irene Khan, the secretary-general of the international human-rights group in what is the strongest indictment of the US and its allies to date for their inability to restore normalcy in Iraq since they ousted the government of Saddam Hussein.

“The first taste of the coalition’s approach to law and order will not have inspired confidence in the Iraqi people,� insisted Khan at a news conference held in London.

Criticism of the US-led forces is expected to get shriller following the indictment from as influential a body as Amnesty.

For much of the past week, US-led forces have had to fend off simmering discontent for doing precious little to restore law and order as also the essential services like water and electricity in the battle-scarred Iraq.

The anarchic fallout of the war strengthened the belief in many that the US were eyeing Iraq’s huge oil reserves. Securing oil wells in Basra and Kirkuk have - not coincidentally - been among the first tasks carried out by the US troops after vanquishing the Iraqi army.

“Protecting people should be a primary responsibility of any power than expects to enter a country and justifies its intervention on the basis of liberating the people or protecting their rights,� said the Amnesty secretary-general.

On Iraq’s future, Amnesty objected to leaders of the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan taking part in a new government because of alleged rights violations during a civil war in the mid-1990s.

Khan said the groups, which have shared control of northern Iraq since the 1991 Gul war, were responsible for many civilian deaths and widespread torture.

Amnesty demanded that the United Nations investigate rights abuses in Iraq both before and during the present conflict.

Khan reminded that US-led troops were subjected to international laws on occupying forces and obliged to protect Iraqi human rights.

In the face of mounting criticism for its inability to stem the lawlessness, the US has been loathe to admit responsibility. US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had accused the media of exaggerating instances of looting.

But international law stipulates that the US troops, the occupying force in Iraq, maintain law and order and ensure the lives and property of its citizens. -- Al Jazeera