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Reports Say Secret Deal Kept British Out Of Basra

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The Associated Press

Published: August 6, 2008

LONDON - A secret deal with an Iran-backed militia kept British forces out of a battle in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, leaving U.S. and Iraqi forces to fight alone, a newspaper reported Tuesday. The Ministry of Defense denied any deal was struck and said it held back to ensure that the operation was seen as Iraqi-led.

The pact between Britain and the Mahdi Army was aimed at coercing the Shiite militia back into the political process and marginalizing extremist factions, The Times of London reported, quoting an unidentified senior defense official. But the effect was that 4,000 British soldiers were kept out of action for six days until a deal brokered in Iran ended heavy fighting.

The Times described the deal as an "accommodation," and said that under its terms, no British soldier could enter Basra, which sits 340 miles southeast of Baghdad, without the permission of Defense Secretary Des Browne.

In a statement, the defense ministry rejected the story, saying "no 'secret deal' or 'accommodation' kept us out of the city," and that the only reason British involvement was limited was to ensure the operation was perceived by residents of Basra as Iraqi-led.

A separate report earlier this week in Britain's Independent also suggested a secret deal existed between the militia and the British. Col. Richard Iron told the newspaper that the deal to withdraw involved the release of 120 prisoners, but left the city at the mercy of criminal gangs.

"As 90 percent of the attacks were against us, we thought if we moved out, we would remove the source of the problem," Iron told the Independent. "But actually the Jaish al-Mahdi the Mahdi army had been fighting us because we were the only obstacle to their total control."

The British military turned over provincial control of Basra to the Iraqi government in late December despite vicious infighting between Shiite factions and widespread militia infiltration of the local security forces.

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