http://www.khaleejtimes.ae/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/focusoniraq/2008/March/focusoniraq_March174.xml§ion=focusoniraq28 March 2008
LONDON - Britain ruled out deploying any troops to the Iraqi city of Basra on Friday, despite days of intense battles on the streets and signs Iraq’s forces cannot cope with a growing militant uprising.
U.S. war planes dropped bombs on rebel areas in an effort to help the Iraqi army regain control of the city, but Britain said its 4,100 heavily armed troops, based at an airport a few kilometres (miles) from the centre, would not join in.
“This is an Iraqi-led operation and it’s one that we have wanted to see since they took responsibility for security in Basra,” said a spokesman for Britain’s Ministry of Defence.
“It’s going to take time, but it shows the Iraqi government’s political will in taking on the militants.”
At least 120 people described by the Iraqi government as enemy fighters have been killed and 450 wounded in four days of intense fighting, which began after Iraq’s prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, decided to take on militant groups in the city.
Britain is providing logistical support and treating some of the Iraqi army wounded on its base, Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s spokesman said, reiterating the Iraqis were in charge.
Yet despite Britain’s expression of confidence in Iraqi forces its troops have helped train, there are signs Iraq’s army is struggling to contain what is a widening conflict.