UK army describes rescue of soldiers

A British military helicopter lands near the scene of an incident between Iraqis and British soldiers in the southern city of Basra. Picture / Reuters

BASRA, Iraq - The British Army has described how it sent in troops to free two undercover soldiers in Basra in southern Iraq after discovering Iraqi police had handed them over to local militia.

"From an early stage I had good reason to believe the lives of the two soldiers were at risk," Army Brigadier John Lorimer said in a statement to the media in London.

The British commanding officer in Basra said his concern for the arrested men increased after he received information they had been handed over to "militia elements".

A Warrior armoured vehicle breached the perimeter wall of the jail in a Basra police station on Monday. When it was discovered that the two men were not in the jail, troops rescued them from a nearby house, he said.

The two undercover soldiers were retrieved after a day of rioting in Basra that began, according to police and local officials, when they fired on an Iraqi police patrol. At least two Iraqis were killed in the violence.

The operation to free them will further strain ties between Iraqis and British troops, who had maintained relatively good relations with the Shi'ite population of Basra by pursuing a low-profile security policy, unlike their US allies elsewhere.

It could also bolster the popularity of young Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose numerous followers in Basra fiercely oppose the presence of foreign troops in Iraq.

Angry Iraqi police inspecting damage left by the raid on their station accused British troops of "terrorism".

"Four tanks invaded the area. A tank cannon struck a room where a policeman was praying," said policeman Abbas Hassan, standing next to mangled cars in the front of the police station and jail that he said were crushed by British military vehicles.

"This is terrorism. All we had was rifles."

Negotiations

Defence Secretary John Reid said the two soldiers were freed when negotiations appeared blocked.

"What happened yesterday was that two of our servicemen were arrested by Iraqi police and under the law as it stands they should have been handed back to the military authorities."

Reid said the Iraqi Interior Ministry and local judges had asked the police to follow that procedure.

"But in the course of the day we became increasingly worried that those people in there to negotiate with the police seemed to be having no success in getting our men out."

Reid said it was not clear whether the Iraqi police were under threat themselves or colluding with local militia.

Lorimer said troops had been sent to the vicinity of the police station where the two men had been detained to help ensure their safety.

"As shown on television, these troops were attacked with firebombs and rockets by a violent and determined crowd."

Furious crowds pelted British armoured vehicles with rocks and petrol bombs after the incident in which the undercover soldiers were said to have fired on Iraqi police.

Tensions in Basra had already risen on Sunday when British forces arrested two leading members of the Mehdi army, a nationalist militia led by radical Shi'ite cleric Sadr.

Sadr, who has led two uprisings by his militia against US troops over the past two years, enjoys a broad following in Basra, where Shi'ite factions are competing for power.

The Ministry of Defence initially denied troops had breached the wall of the Basra jail and said the release of the two soldiers had been "negotiated".

It said media reports that 150 prisoners had been released ore had escaped during the assault on the jail were false.

But Hassan, the Iraqi policeman, said prisoners had got away. "Terrorists escaped. This is a government building. We arrest terrorists," he said.

- REUTERS