British soldiers 'kidnapped' in Basra, officer says

10.15pm

BASRA, Iraq - A British officer in southern Iraq says four or five British soldiers were kidnapped in the city of Basra on Friday night (Saturday morning NZ time).

"They were kidnapped there last night," the officer in the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, on the edge of the besieged city, said without giving details.

A spokesman at the US-led war headquarters in the Gulf state of Qatar said British forces had gone into Basra to assess the level of resistance from forces loyal to President Saddam Hussein but said there were no reports of missing troops.

"There are no reports of any soldiers missing," said Group Captain Al Lockwood.

Basra, Iraq's second city, is ringed by US and British tanks, artillery and armoured personnel carriers. On Friday British officials said Iraqi forces fired on about 2,000 civilians trying to flee fighting and a humanitarian crisis.

"We're continuing to probe into the city to find out the disposition of these paramilitary forces," Lockwood said.

"We have various intelligence sources that tell us that there is indeed a reign of terror still extant within Basra."

"The paramilitary, the Baath Party and those criminals that support it are coercing people to fight against the coalition. We're actively degrading them...reducing their ability to fight and we will continue to do so," he told Reuters.

Reuters correspondent David Fox said a stream of people was leaving the city but an even larger group was trying to get in, creating chaotic scenes at a bridge on the edge of Basra where British soldiers had pulled up two tanks, creating a narrow channel for people to pass through.

The soldiers were allowing women, children and old men into the city, but were barring adult men. They were not stopping people leaving Basra.

"Basically men of fighting age are being kept out for the moment," a tank commander with the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment said.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq war