General 'unrepentant' over Iraq station raid

The demolition of a notorious Iraqi police station marked a turning point in the battle with Basra’s death squads, the British commander in the province said today.

Major General Richard Shirreff insisted he was “completely unrepentant” about the Christmas Day operation, despite criticism from provincial council leaders.

More than 1,000 troops, accompanied by Iraqis, swooped on the Jameat station in the early hours raid amid rumours that dozens of prisoners were about to be executed.

There had been fears of repercussions against the captives after leading members of the Serious Crimes Unit were arrested on suspicion of corruption and leading a death squad.

Maj Gen Shirreff said today: “I’m completely unrepentant about Operation Thyme. It was a brilliantly-executed, brilliantly-run operation by 19 Brigade.

“It was a really important operation because this was the moment where we, together with the Iraqis, are seen to be confronting the Serious Crimes Unit (and) the death squad organisations in Basra, making it absolutely clear that there is no room for these people in the future Iraq.

“And we will continue to hunt these people down and eradicate them.”

Operation Thyme, one of the biggest led by the UK since the 2003 invasion, was part of a drive to stamp out renegade Shiite militia elements believed to have infiltrated police operating from the Jameat compound.

A total of 127 prisoners – some thought to have been tortured – were removed from the premises and taken to other secure locations while hundreds of seized files and computers were examined for evidence.

British forces said the operation had the backing of the Iraqi government in Baghdad and the provincial governor but it appeared to have renewed tensions with local politicians.

Maj Gen Shirreff told BBC News 24 today that objections to the operation were coming from “frightened men” who were “intimidated by the militias”.

“To some extent it was inevitable,” he said, adding that the governor of Basra and the imam of the city’s main Shia mosque had called him to offer their support.

The Foreign Office conceded yesterday that some elements of the city’s council were unhappy about the actions but said the UK and the Iraqi government would explain the reasons for them.