'Showdown' looms - UK army chief

'Showdown' looms - UK army chief

British soldiers in Basra risked their lives to protect civilians under fire

Britain's most senior army chief has said a "showdown" with Iraqi units in Baghdad loyal to Saddam Hussein is "not too far away".

Chief of the General Staff General Sir Mike Jackson said irregular Iraqi forces were being "pinned down" and "dying in large numbers".

He spoke as earlier in the day British troops engaged in fierce fighting on the outskirts of Basra to defend some 2,000 Iraqi civilians who were fired on by the country's militia.

Sir Michael said he believed a major clash with Iraqi Republican Guard forces - entrenched outside Baghdad - would happen soon.

He rejected suggestions coalition forces have become "bogged down" and that military plans have gone astray.

'Stopping and regrouping'

There has been criticism in some quarters at the pace of coalition advances and the progress made by troops trying to reach the capital.

Speaking at a news conference in London, General Jackson dismissed suggestions that the strength of Iraqi forces had surprised UK and US troops.

THE BATTLE FOR BASRA

Click here for the military position

Enlarge image

See also: Why Basra matters

"Armies cannot keep moving forever without stopping from time to time to regroup, to ensure their supplies are up," he said.

"This 'bogged down' is a tendentious phrase. It's a pause while people get sorted out for what comes next."

Outside Basra on Friday the fighting continued, with British troops trying to defend civilians trying to flee the city coming under fire from Iraqi militia forces.

Women and children were among those attacked with mortars and machine guns.

British forces spokesman Group Captain Al Lockwood said: "Paramilitary forces loyal to the regime followed them and commenced firing upon them.

"The Black Watch then attempted to intercept the paramilitaries by going round the civilians."

US gears up for long campaign

BBC correspondent Hilary Andersson said British military ambulances had reportedly taken away the wounded, although casualty figures were unknown.

It was suggested the civilians may have been trying to get to food and water at points outside Basra - as they had done on previous days.

The city has been encircled for five days and with water supplies cut by half and international agencies warning of a crisis, coalition forces are anxious to be seen to deliver aid.

Major Will McKinlay said centres were being set up on Basra's outskirts to provide food and water to the "hundreds" of fleeing civilians, who would be given safe passage.

'Not many more troops'

Sergeant Duane Gardner, of the Queen's Royal Lancers, said: "Civilians tell us that the militia have piled into Basra.

"All their kit, their army - apparently the tanks are hidden in the shop windows and under car parks."

Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon said on Friday that Britain would not be sending many more troops to join the 45,000 already in Iraq, despite Washington's decision to sent up to 120,000 US reinforcements.

Meanwhile the first British aid ship has reached the southern port of Umm Qasr, and the bodies of the first British servicemen killed are being flown home.