Basra

UK agrees to pay Basra raid damages

Britain is to pay compensation for injuries and damage caused during the storming by the Army of a police station in Basra in an operation to release two SAS soldiers held by local Iraqi militias.

This is made doubly annoying given this:
British troop numbers in Iraq cut by 500 as Basra bases close
And then there's this:
Basra voters say it is time for soldiers to go

"I felt proud that the Iraqi police had arrested the British soldiers, it is our country and our laws should be obeyed", said Zainab. Her colleague Fatima added: "I do not like seeing foreign soldiers on our streets, they should go." What is surprising about these views in Basra is that they came from two educated, middle class women speaking fluent English who have frequent contact with the British and have little sympathy for the Shia militia who have infiltrated the Iraqi police.

(snip)

Their sentiments, echoed by others, do reflect, however, the new, public mood of defiance and nationalism among the Shia of Iraq as they prepare for power for the first time in 100 years.

(snip)

But the freedom from fear stretches only up to a point. The vast majority of those who spoke wanted only their first names mentioned because of fear of retribution from the militias who are fighting each other, and British forces, for the control of Basra and the riches it will bring when political and economic power shifts from Baghdad to Basra.

Huh. In anticipation of the referendum:
All Basra international ports closed as of Wednesday