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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Iran Behind Basra- British Soldiers Face-Off |
| 2005-09-19 |
| Tehranâs involvement may be linked to Britainâs hardening position on its nuclear programme. THE violence that erupted on the streets of Basra yesterday was the result of a simmering struggle between British forces and the increasingly powerful Shia Muslim militias active in southern Iraq. Attention has been focused on the Sunni Muslim insurgency against US-led forces further north, yet the British have been facing a sharp rise in attacks from an increasingly sophisticated and deadly foe. There are strong suspicions that the bloodshed is being orchestrated with weapons and encouragement from Iran. The clashes and the arrest of two undercover soldiers was almost certainly triggered by the arrest at the weekend of Sheikh Ahmed al-Fartusi, the leader of the Mahdi Army, a banned militia loyal to Moqtada al-Sadr. He was seized by British troops in a raid that also netted his brother and another colleague. âThe operation is the result of an ongoing multinational force investigation that identified individuals believed to be responsible for organising terrorist attacks against multinational forces,â said a statement released by the British military on Sunday after the deaths of six British soldiers and two security guards over the past two months. Al-Sadrâs supporters are known to dominate the local police and can mobilise gunmen or mass protests at short notice, as they did regularly during an uprising last year that swept across southern Iraq. British officials are convinced that Iran is implicated in the upsurge in violence and suspect it may be connected to Britainâs hardening position against Tehranâs nuclear programme. Britain has been working closely with Iran over the past two years to reach a compromise. But with the victory last month of the hawkish President Ahmadinejad, Iran has hardened its position. Britain is now actively lobbying to have Tehran referred to the UN Security Council, where it could face sanctions. |
| Posted by:Captain America |
| #3 Fear not, Mrs Ambassador Joseph Wilson's on the case. Of course, the CIA proxies are not subverting but working with the mullahs, helping them target Israeli command and control centers and so forth. |
| Posted by: thibaud (aka lex) 2005-09-19 23:06 |
| #2 I hope the cia are funding proxys in Iran. |
| Posted by: Red Dog 2005-09-19 23:01 |
| #1 Well what is the UK going to do about it? |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet O´ Doom 2005-09-19 22:33 |