British forces clash with militia in Iraq's Basra

BASRA, Iraq, May 21 (Reuters) Heavy clashes erupted between Shi'ite militiamen and British forces near the provincial governor's office in the southern Iraqi city of Basra today.

A Reuters reporter in Basra, Iraq's second largest city, said he could hear machine-gun fire and blasts from rocket-propelled grenades some 200 metres from the governor's office in central Basra.

There was no immediate word about the clashes from British forces deployed in Basra.

British and Iraqi troops have in recent months stepped up operations against Shi'ite militias in the largely Shi'ite south of Iraq.

The oil-producing city of Basra, on the Gulf, is riven by rival Shi'ite factions jockeying for power and access to the city's oil wealth. Britain, whose 7,000 troops are mostly based in Basra, is gradually drawing down its forces in Iraq.

Reuters SKB GC2000