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SAMAWAH, Iraq (AP) - Coalition forces will pull out of a relatively peaceful, West Virginia-sized region in southern Iraq by the end of July, a British officer said Thursday - the first transfer of an entire province to Iraqi security forces. However, the international troops will maintain a presence nearby and be prepared to help the Iraqis if needed in Muthanna province, a predominantly Shiite area of 550,000 people bordering Najaf, Basra and Saudi Arabia. U.S. Brig. Gen. Rudy Wright said the transition would be closely watched. "Everybody is in great anticipation that this will continue on," he said at...

FRESH Australian troops would deploy to southern Iraq in a third rotation of the Al Muthanna Task Group (AMTG), Defence Minister Brendan Nelson said today. Dr Nelson said the 470 troops would stay for six months and continue to provide security for the Japanese Iraq Reconstruction and Support Group (JIRSG) and assist in the training of local Iraqi Army units. It was expected that the Japanese government would probably announce the withdrawal of their engineers during that time, he said. "Should the Japanese announce the retirement of their engineers and withdrawal at some stage in the future, well then we...

The proverbial library of successful counter-insurgencies — a woefully small collection — is dominated by the near-legendary campaigns of the British, including those carried out in Malaya, Aden, and Oman. Until recently, some observers thought it entirely possible that the British effort in southern Iraq would join this catalog of battlefield achievements. Those hopes — once prevalent among the media and military experts — died a most public death early this fall, when British soldiers rushed to rescue two special forces operatives that had been arrested by Iraqi police. After storming the compound, the troops were confronted by squads of...

1/6/2006 - CAMP BUCCA, Iraq (AFPN) -- Security forces from Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., are serving in southern Iraq this winter. Twenty-four of the more than 300 Airmen who make up the 586th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron are from the 28th Security Forces Squadron at Ellsworth. They provide base, convoy and area security here -- home to the largest theater internment facility in Iraq. Tech. Sgt. Michael Taylor, the 586th’s flight sergeant, is the senior ranking member of the Ellsworth team here. The sergeant is in charge of the mobile patrols for the base. “The threat is here pretty...

PRIME Minister John Howard has given the clearest indication yet that Australian troops may stay on in Iraq, but a defence analyst has warned it may be stretching resources. Japan yesterday announced it will extend its historic military mission in southern Iraq until the end of 2006, but may pull out sometime next year. Mr Howard welcomed the decision, saying: "We'll continue to work with our Japanese friends, we'll continue to provide security." Australia's 450-member Al Muthanna Task Group aims to create a secure environment for the Japanese force to perform humanitarian reconstruction work. A second Australian rotation is now...

Base Camp Adder (Ali Base) Iraq -- Approximately 80,000 Iraqi children are attending better schools in the nine southern provinces of Iraq because of the Iraqi Relief and Reconstruction Fund. The affected children attend 368 different schools ranging from intercity to rural, village mud schools. The process to determine which schools should be replaced, repaired, or refurbished was a joint decision. First, the Director General for Education in each province assessed the schools along with Coalition forces and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer representatives. Second, schools were evaluated in order to provide a safe, healthy learning environment for schoolchildren....

Baghdad, 28 Oct. (AKI) - Iraq's government has announced it has allocated 60 billion dollars to the construction of a 100-berth 'Grand Port' in the province of Basra in southern Iraq, which will become the area's biggest maritime hub. "This strategic mega-project, will be built by international companies to be selected by a tender that will open in a couple of days," an unnamed source told Adnkronos International (AKI). The planned Grand Port will cover an area of 40 square kilometres in the Ras al-Bisha area. Given its location between Europe and Asia, it is expected to be of particular...

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.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5, 2005 – The British Royal Marine in charge of coalition operations in southeastern Iraq is optimistic about ongoing efforts there to train Iraqi army and police forces to eventually assume security duties. "We have been able to force ahead with the main effort, which is security sector reform," Maj. Gen. Jim Dutton, commander of Multinational Division Southeast, told Pentagon reporters today via a video link from Basra. Dutton's 13,000-plus-troop multinational command is made up of 7,900 British troops, 3,000 Italians, 640 Australians, 622 Romanians, 562 Japanese, 388 Danes, 97 Czechs, 33 Lithuanians, five Norwegians, and two Portuguese....

July 31, 2005: Not all the terrorists in Iraq are Sunni Arabs belonging to al Qaeda. In southern Iraq, Shia Islamic conservatives use death squads and street gangs to enforce their version of the Islamic life style. This means women dressing very modestly, and staying out of sight, no alcohol, even for non-Moslems, no music and movies, no mixing of men and women outside of family or marriage, and no complaining about all this. The police won't act against the religious gangs, out of fear, or because they are bribed. This allows the gangs to get away with murder. The...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Three British soldiers have been killed during hostile action in southern Iraq. The British command says the clash occurred in the southern city of Amarah, located north of Basra. A British spokesman says more details will be released later today. Iraqi police say a British patrol was hit by a roadside bomb. Britain's force is largely based in the mostly Shiite southern Iraq, where support for the Shiite-led government in Baghdad is stronger.

BASRA, IRAQ - In Basra these days, it's not uncommon to see armed men from Shiite religious groups standing at the gates of Basra University, scrutinizing female students to make sure their dresses are the right length and their makeup properly modest. Any woman violating their standards of Muslim dignity, relates Henan, a psychology student, is ordered home. "These religious militiamen tell us how to dress, and prevent us from listening to music in public or interacting with male students," she says. "It makes me burn inside." Henan is not the only Basran furious at the extremist Shiite Muslims who...

BRITAIN is negotiating with Australia to hand over military command of southern Iraq to free up British troops for redeployment to the front line in Afghanistan. An announcement is expected within weeks that several thousand British soldiers are to be sent to Afghanistan. The prospect of Australia taking command at the Basra headquarters will be a key item in talks that John Howard, the Australian prime minister, will be holding next weekend with Tony Blair and President George W Bush. Howard, who is also considering sending a few hundred troops to Afghanistan, insisted last week that Australia would remain in...

Nasiriyah, Iraq – Iraq’s clean water supply country-wide has ebbed slowly for decades because of war, an antiquated pipeline network and co-mingling with sewage as a result of illegal line tapping. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Gulf Region South District is riding the waves of progress to get the people of southern Iraq the clean drinking water they need.In the Thi Qar Province, the $173 million Nasiriyah Water Treatment Plant has two scopes of work: one is to finish the construction on the partially completed plant, and the other is to run water pipeline from Ash Shatrah to Suk...

A British soldier has been killed in south Iraq after a military convoy was attacked, the Ministry of Defence says.Lt Karim Lueibi, of the Iraqi police, told AP news agency that a roadside bomb had exploded near the troops. An unknown number of casualties were airlifted from the scene in the Kahla area south of Amara on Sunday. Earlier this month, Anthony Wakefield became the 87th UK soldier to die during the conflict after a roadside bomb blast in the same area. The MoD says it is investigating the latest hostile action against UK forces and will not identify the...

LONDON, May 29 (Xinhuanet) -- One British soldier was killed near the southeastern Iraqi town of Amara when forces were attacked, the British Defense Ministry said on Sunday. "There has been a hostile action against British troops ...which has resulted in a fatality," said a ministry spokesman. The incident is under investigation but it appears to have beenthe result of an explosion, he added. Meanwhile, Britain's Sky News television reported that the incident was a roadside bomb attack on a convoy near Amara. Insurgents in Iraq have stepped up attacks on US and Iraqi troops since a new Iraqi government...

Black Watch troops returned to the relative safety of Basra yesterday after a controversial month-long mission in Iraq’s "triangle of death", during which five of their comrades died. Relieved soldiers declared "mission accomplished" as the battle group convoy of more than 200 vehicles arrived at the Shaibah Logistics Base in the south of the country. They dedicated the success of their campaign to their comrades who died on the deployment to Camp Dogwood - four from suicide attacks and one in an accident. Amid the sadness, there was also delight after the MoD confirmed the soldiers would be in the...

Key Points 600 marines of 40 Commando to replace 1st Battalion, Royal Fusiliers in Iraq Iraq suffers worst death toll since February Vehicle explodes near Muthanna airport killing 33 and injuring 145 Car bomb in Balad, 50 miles north of Baghdad, kills 6 Iraqi security force members Key quote "If we judge that further changes to the UK military contribution in Iraq would be appropriate to support this process, we will of course inform the House at the earliest opportunity. At present, however, no such decision has been made," - Geoff Hoon, the Defence Secretary. Story in full THE Royal...

Southern provinces mull federal region Basra, Iraq Press, June 2, 2004 – The first federal entity outside the autonomous Kurdish region may emerge in southern Iraq. Three southern provinces – Basra, Amara and Wasit – are considering forming a self-rule region of their own. News of the new autonomous region comes as the Iraqis have selected an interim government to which Washington will transfer sovereignty on June 30. The new government, headed by Ayad Allawi, has reiterated its commitment to the establishment of a federal and democratic Iraq as envisaged by the basic law or interim constitution. The governors of...

Tony Blair will call this week for a British-led Nato rapid reaction force to take control of the whole of southern Iraq. In a move designed to bring greater cohesion to the military coalition, the Prime Minister will ask Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the Nato secretary-general, for permission to deploy to Iraq the Allied Command Europe Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC) headquarters. The move will greatly enhance the Prime Minister's ability to influence coalition policy because, for the first time since the start of the war, Britain will have a strategic-level headquarters in Iraq. Defence chiefs believe the deployment will aid...