What a mess in Basra:

British troops arrested in Basra

Two British soldiers have been arrested in the southern Iraq city of Basra, sparking clashes outside a police station where they are being held....

Two British tanks, sent to the police station where the soldiers are being held, were set alight in clashes....

Tensions have been running high in the city since the arrest of a senior figure in the Shia Mehdi Army by UK troops....

--BBC

British Tanks Crash Through Basra Jail Walls, Freeing to Captured Britons

In a major show of force, British soldiers used tanks to break down the walls of the central jail in this southern city late Monday and freed two Britons, allegedly undercover commandos, who had been arrested on charges of shooting two Iraqi policemen.

About 150 Iraqi prisoners also fled as British commandos stormed inside and rescued their comrades, said Aquil Jabbar, an Iraqi television cameraman who lives across the street from the jail. Earlier Monday, demonstrators hurled stones and Molotov cocktails at British tanks, and at least four people were killed.

The fighting in the oil city of Basra, 340 miles south of the capital, erupted after British armor encircled the jail where the two Britons were being held. During the melee one British soldier could be seen in a photograph scrambling for his life from a burning tank and the rock-throwing mob.

Arab satellite television stations showed pictures of two Western men sitting on the floor of the jail building with their hands tied behind their backs.

One of the men had a bandage covering most of the top of his head, the other had blood on his clothes. Television commentary identified them only as Britons....

--AP

Iraqi Journalist Working With The New York Times Is Abducted and Killed in Basra

An Iraqi journalist working for The New York Times was killed after men claiming to be police officers abducted him from his home in the southern city of Basra, the newspaper announced Monday.

Fakher Haider, a 38-year-old reporter covering Basra, was found dead in a deserted area on the city's outskirts Monday morning after his abduction late Sunday night.

Relatives identified the body at the city morgue and said he appeared to have been shot more than once in the head. His back was bruised, suggesting he had been beaten, the Times said...

--AP