Posted on 04/07/2003 12:07:36 PM PDT by kattracks
British troops walk unopposed into Basra
By Rosalind Russell
BASRA, Iraq, April 7 (Reuters) - British paratroopers guarded by tanks and helicopter gunships walked unopposed into the centre of Iraq's second city Basra on Monday and were warmly received in the narrow streets of the old quarter.
Walking past the bodies of Iraqi militiamen lying in wasteland on either side of the main road from the south, about 700 British soldiers with automatic weapons entered the city in the early afternoon in single-file columns.
Not a shot was fired as men, women and children came out onto the road, some to greet the new occupiers and others to simply stand and stare.
"Welcome, welcome, very good," shouted some. Others begged the troops for water.
Four U.S. helicopters swooped overhead as the British advanced to Siyamar Square in the heart of the dilapidated city that had been virtually under siege since the U.S.-led war to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein began 19 days ago.
Criss-crossed by canals, the southern Iraqi city was once labelled the "Venice of the East."
But the only sign of opulence the troops found was Saddam's lavish but little-used local palace which, reporters said, boasted 18 bathrooms. At least one was decorated in white marble and had a toilet painted in gold leaf.
On Basra's outskirts, youths used a breach in control to loot, carting off in wheelbarrows and trailers anything they could -- office equipment, furniture and household appliances.
A doctor told one British correspondent he saw British troops open fire on a man who had stolen a taxi from a hospital and refused to stop, killing him.
"There are thieves coming from everywhere," said Ahmed Abdul Muttalib. "They think there is no government and they are taking whatever they can -- drugs, fuel, uniforms or cars.
British Air Marshal Brian Burridge said looting was almost "an inevitability."
"There is a release of pent-up annoyance and hatred against the Baath Party and the Baath regime, but once that safety valve is blown...the business of protecting property becomes easier," he said.
HARD CORE
Burridge said British forces were still expecting some resistance from what he described as a "hard core" of Baath Party members.
"The 3rd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment are in the process now of sweeping the old town in Basra which is a myriad of narrow streets and winding alleys and this has to be done on foot," he told reporters at war headquarters in Qatar.
But officers on the ground said they were confident the bulk of resistance had been subdued in a raid on Sunday.
Monday's reception was markedly warmer.
"This is more than we could have hoped for. We took part in the raid yesterday and today it's a completely different city," said Major Chris Brannigan of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, manning a tank at an intersection on the main road, Baghdad Street.
Soldiers took positions along the road, some lying on their stomachs facing out towards tumbledown houses and dusty side streets too narrow for tanks.
Most made their way to the main square and were thronged by Iraqis under a giant portrait of Saddam.
Basra residents said they were happy to see the back of Saddam's Fedayeen militia but were wary about the future.
"What will happen now we have no government?" asked 47-year-old Majid Abas. "Will we get water and medical supplies? We are poor, we have nothing."
On the road running south, a fleet of armoured vehicles marked with red crosses entered a large college compound that had been used by Fedayeen militia targeting British positions with mortars and gunfire.
"We're going in to collect bodies (of Iraqi militia)," said one British soldier. "This is the place we raided yesterday."
Earlier on Monday in Qatar, British Central Command spokesman Captain Al Lockwood confirmed three British soldiers were killed in fighting for the city.
04/07/03 15:01 ET
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