From correspondents in Basra, Iraq
05mar04
IRAQI police arrested five people today travelling in a car packed with explosives in the British-controlled southern city of Basra, a local official said.
"The police arrested five Iraqis who were driving in a car with a bomb in it and who have admitted being supporters of the former regime," of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein, Majed al-Tamimi said.
"They wanted to blow it up in the centre of the city," which lies 500km south of Baghdad, he said, but gave no further details.
Basra is under the control of British coalition forces and has been relatively calm since Saddam's ouster in April, as attacks have increased in northern Iraq.