Desert Rats pull out of Basra

FIERCE Iraqi resistance — including attacks

Elements of Britain's Seventh Armoured Brigade, the Desert Rats, withdrew from the southern Iraqi city the nation's second largest after coming under attack by mortars and guerrillas disguised in civilian clothes.

The brigade had at one point surrounded the city. Military officials admitted they had vastly underestimated the strength of Iraqi resistance and the loyalty of Basra's population to the regime of Saddam Hussein. "We're currently taking stock of the situation. We were expecting a lot of hands up from Iraqi soldiers and for the humanitarian operation in Basra to begin fairly quickly behind us, with aid organisations providing food and water to the locals," Captain Patrick Trueman said.

"But it hasn't quite worked out that way. There are significant elements in Basra who are hugely loyal to the regime. Their loyalty is rewarded with a better standard of living than most, so they don't want to give it up easily."

US and British forces were having a tough time taming Iraqi resistance in the south-east, outside Basra and the key deep-water port of Umm Qasr.

Military planners had expected little resistance in the region because they thought the Shi'ite Muslim majority, long repressed by the Sunnis from the north, would be glad to be rid of Saddam. "We always had the idea that everyone in this area hated Saddam. Clearly, there are a number who don't," Trueman said.

The decision to withdraw came after British units came under fierce mortar fire as they blocked the main routes into the city from the north and south. British commanders are considering calling in paratroopers and drawing on the experience of Royal Marine Commandos in urban warfare to assist the battle for Basra after accepting that it might be necessary to engage in street combat to secure the city.

British artillery shells were later fired into the city, where 1,000 Iraqi fighters are believed to be sheltering, some using civilian buildings as bases.

Some of the strongest resistance in Basra came from the Fedayeen militia and security services armed with rocket propelled grenades and machine guns.

Some tried to lure leading British infantry into a false sense of security by flying white flags of surrender before opening fire. They also used women and children as decoys.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair told MPs yesterday afternoon: "Basra is surrounded and cannot be used as an Iraqi base. But in Basra there are pockets of Saddam's most fiercely loyal security services who are holding out.

"They are contained but still able to inflict casualties on our troops and so we are proceeding with caution. Basra international airport has been made secure."

Mr Blair said key oil installations on the Al Faw peninsula were now secure and the port of Umm Qasr "despite continuing pockets of resistance is under allied control, but the waterway essential for humanitarian aid may be blocked by mines and will take some days to sweep." News of the resistance in Basra came as US Commander General Tommy Franks claimed allied forces were operating "throughout Iraq" in "rapid and dramatic" action.

Military leaders also were concerned that members of Fedayeen, a militia controlled by Saddam's elder son Uday, had lured British troops into danger by pretending to surrender and by using women and children as decoys.

They were also concerned the Iraqis might use a captured British vehicle as a car bomb.

Meanwhile, Al-Jazeera television reported bombardment of southern Basra, showing columns of smoke rising from the city.