Desperate Iraqi fighters prepare for a last stand in Basra

CIVILIANS fleeing Iraq’s main southern city of Basra said yesterday increasingly desperate Iraqi fighters were preparing for a last stand against a swelling force of British troops and tanks being readied to fight their way into the city.

Many of the hundreds streaming out of the city over a bridge leading south said the Iraqi soldiers, paramilitary troops and Ba’ath party members loyal to President Saddam Hussein who have held off the coalition forces since the start of the war nearly two weeks ago were trying to stop the exodus.

“They believe that if Basra empties of civilians it will be easy for the foreign troops to take the city,” one man said, echoing the comments of many.