McKay 1
09-19-2005, 03:19 PM
Iraqi police have detained two British soldiers in the southern port city of Basra following a shooting incident, a British military spokesman and police sources said.
"We can confirm that the Iraqi authorities are holding two UK service personnel and we are liaising with the Iraqi authorities on this matter," the spokesman told AFP by telephone from Basra on Monday.
British forces on Monday surrounded a police station in the centre of Basra after Iraqi police refused to release the two men.
The British forces were themselves surrounded by demonstrators who threw stones and British soldiers fired warning shots, he said.
Demonstrators then set fire to two British tanks. British soldiers jumped from the tanks and withdrew without returning fire. It was not immediately known if there were any injuries.
Undercover soldiers
One Basra policeman said the two men who were detained were undercover soldiers, wearing Arab costume, who allegedly fired at a police patrol before being forced to stop.
At a recent military briefing in Basra, an AFP correspondent was told British soldiers had been ordered not to stop at Iraqi police checkpoints because of fear that rebels could be posing as Iraqi police.
In another incident on Sunday, angry armed Shia militiamen from the Mahdi Army demonstrated in central Basra after British soldiers arrested their local leader on charges of terrorism.
British forces confirmed they had arrested "three prominent individuals".
"We can confirm that the Iraqi authorities are holding two UK service personnel and we are liaising with the Iraqi authorities on this matter," the spokesman told AFP by telephone from Basra on Monday.
British forces on Monday surrounded a police station in the centre of Basra after Iraqi police refused to release the two men.
The British forces were themselves surrounded by demonstrators who threw stones and British soldiers fired warning shots, he said.
Demonstrators then set fire to two British tanks. British soldiers jumped from the tanks and withdrew without returning fire. It was not immediately known if there were any injuries.
Undercover soldiers
One Basra policeman said the two men who were detained were undercover soldiers, wearing Arab costume, who allegedly fired at a police patrol before being forced to stop.
At a recent military briefing in Basra, an AFP correspondent was told British soldiers had been ordered not to stop at Iraqi police checkpoints because of fear that rebels could be posing as Iraqi police.
In another incident on Sunday, angry armed Shia militiamen from the Mahdi Army demonstrated in central Basra after British soldiers arrested their local leader on charges of terrorism.
British forces confirmed they had arrested "three prominent individuals".