Basra voters say it is time for soldiers to go

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"I felt proud that the Iraqi police had arrested the British soldiers, it is our country and our laws should be obeyed", said Zainab. Her colleague Fatima added: "I do not like seeing foreign soldiers on our streets, they should go." What is surprising about these views in Basra is that they came from two educated, middle class women speaking fluent English who have frequent contact with the British and have little sympathy for the Shia militia who have infiltrated the Iraqi police.

In fact, the women admit they are very wary of the same police who had arrested two British special forces soldiers, triggering a rescue mission in which British forces smashed their way into a police station. Their sentiments, echoed by others, do reflect, however, the new, public mood of defiance and nationalism among the Shia of Iraq as they prepare for power for the first time in 100 years.

The generally accepted forecast now is that the impending referendum will vote in favour of the new constitution and, with it, put in motion the Shia gameplan for a future Iraq. Under the federal structure of the document Shia leaders will, at last, gain control of thelucrative oil fields of the south while the Kurds keep hold of those in the north. The Sunni bitterly bemoan that they will be left with "the sands of Anbar" - the barren, Sunni majority province.

Like the Kurds, the Shia south suffered from periodic bouts of brutal repression under Saddam. Now, they say, they are free of fear to decide their own destiny. But the freedom from fear stretches only up to a point. The vast majority of those who spoke wanted only their first names mentioned because of fear of retribution from the militias who are fighting each other, and British forces, for the control of Basra and the riches it will bring when political and economic power shifts from Baghdad to Basra.Mohammed works for Basra's provincial council, which has demanded the British authorities hand over the two soldiers for trial, apologise publicly and pay compensation. He said: "If we have jurisdiction, then our laws must be obeyed.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article318609.ece