Story by Deborah Haynes
In a new sweep seven iraqi battalions entered a large market area one of three remaining Mehdi Army bastions in Basra where they found four large hauls of munitions including 20 rockets of the type that were being fired at Britains military base at the airport on a near daily basis. Tellingly, the rocket fire has all but stopped since March 25. A number of roadside bombs, of the sort that killed a US marine earlier this week (the first US casualty in Basra since the invasion) were also uncovered at the market.
Bombs made in Iran were found in the market place. The Iranian Government has repeatedly rejected this claim. Lt-Gen Furaiji keeps a small collection of Iranian-made mortars in his office at the Shat al-Arab hotel, which sits on the bank of the Shat al-Arab waterway. He said: Thanks to the Iranians for handing over all these weapons to us.