Iraq: Iraq denounced British forces yesterday over the dramatic rescue of two undercover soldiers that could stoke hostility towards foreign troops in increasingly volatile southern Iraq.
British troops used an armoured fighting vehicle on Monday to burst into an Iraqi jail in search of soldiers held by police in Basra.
The British commander said he learned they had been handed to militia and ordered their rescue from a nearby house.
"It is a very unfortunate development that the British forces should try to release their forces the way it happened," Haider al-Ebadi, an adviser to prime minister Ibrahim Jaafari, told a news conference in Baghdad.
The operation followed rioting that began, according to police and local officials, when the two soldiers fired on a police patrol. At least two Iraqis were killed.
Southern Iraq is home to several Shia militias, including one loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who fiercely opposes the presence of foreign troops and has led uprisings against the US military.
Many Iraqis say the heavily- armed militias act with impunity and are not answerable to the central government.
Tensions in Basra had risen on Sunday when British forces arrested two leading members of Mr al-Sadr's Mehdi Army militia.
The tough British response will further strain ties between Iraqis and British troops, who had maintained relatively good relations with the Shia population of Basra by pursuing a low-profile security policy, in contrast to tougher US tactics.
Britain, which has 8,500 troops in Iraq, said on Sunday it would send more if necessary.
But a leaked memo signed by defence secretary John Reid in July envisioned bringing most of them home over the next year. British soldiers have faced less popular anger in Iraq than their US allies, but Iraqi police vented their fury in Basra as they inspected damage from the British raid.
"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 outside the police station and jail that he said were crushed by British military vehicles.
"This is terrorism. All we had was rifles."
In Iraq, state television showed the two British soldiers unshaven and looking nervous as Iraqi police looked over wigs, Arab headdresses, an anti-tank missile and communications equipment, all apparently used in their mission.
Images of the pair seemed sure to fuel suspicions by militias in Basra and elsewhere who believe foreign troops are on a secret mission to exploit Iraq.
Unrest in the Shia south, home to Iraq's biggest oil reserves, would pile pressure on the Iraqi government, which is fighting a Sunni Arab insurgency further north and had hoped the south would remain relatively calm.
Residents of Basra urged British troops to leave Iraq.
"It is inappropriate for any Iraqi to be insulted by a British or an American or any other occupier. We reject the occupying forces," said Abbas Jassim.
"The British violated the government, police and the sons of this country, which we all reject."
British forces said the soldiers were in danger.
"From an early stage I had good reason to believe the lives of the two soldiers were at risk," Brig Gen John Lorimer, the British commander in Basra, said in a statement.
The raid could boost the popularity of Shia cleric Mr al-Sadr, who can mobilise thousands of supporters quickly. - (Reuters)