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Basra officials cut ties over raid
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QUICKVOTEYOUR E-MAIL ALERTSBAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Officials in Basra say they will not cooperate with Britain until the restive southern Iraqi city receives an apology and compensation after a British raid to free two soldiers. In a telephone interview, Mohammed Al-Ubadi, head of the Basra Governing Council, told CNN that a meeting was held Thursday including the 41 members of the Basra Governing Council and British government representatives regarding the raid. Ubadi said: "Our decision is to cut off our relations with the Multinational Forces until we receive a formal apology from the British government for this act. "We also ask for the return of two detainees to Iraqi custody, compensation for the casualties that resulted, and compensation to the major crimes unit for the destruction of the facility." Ubadi told CNN the two detainees were being held because they were found with several weapons, had killed a civilian, and had beat an Iraqi police officer. They had been wearing traditional Arabic clothing and were not dressed as soldiers. He said they wanted these detainees to be handed over to the Basra authorities and to be tried before a judge in a legitimate trial. "Five Iraqi civilians were killed and 44 wounded as a result of the fighting that happened because of this raid," Ubadi said. "The people of Basra have always worked with the British military and if they wanted the release of these individuals they could have gone through official channels to get them released we still don't know who they are and the major crimes unit detained them for a reason. They were suspicious characters and we still don't know who they are or what they were up to. "We reject this action and it brought the city to chaos. The people of Basra are peaceful people and this action is against the sovereignty of Iraq." He said the Basra Governing Council would continue to investigate the matter with the local police until it was solved. The raid took place Monday after a British commander said he feared that the two British undercover soldiers had been handed over to a militia group. A British armored vehicle escorted by a tank crashed into a detention center looking for the two soldiers. The British forces said the pair had been held at a police jail but were then taken to a house -- apparently held by Shiite militia. When it was determined the two were not at the detention center, the house was stormed and British official said the two soldiers were rescued. The British military entered the police station and a Warrior armored vehicle crashed through the perimeter wall of the jail. The dramatic operation Monday followed a day of rioting in the southern Iraqi city, sparked when the two soldiers were said by police and local officials to have fired on an Iraqi police patrol. Brigadier John Lorimer said he had a "deep concern" the men detained by police were later handed over to Shiite militia. "From an early stage I had good reason to believe the lives of the two soldiers were at risk," Lorimer said in a statement issued to the media Tuesday. He said the British military went "to exhaustive lengths" to secure the freedom of the soldiers. The Iraqi interior minister personally ordered their release, he said, but the order was ignored. CNN Producer Kianne Sadeq contributed to this report. Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report. 
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