Iraqi soldiers protest at UK base

Several hundred men gathered for the protest

Disgruntled former Iraqi soldiers have protested outside British Army headquarters in Basra to demand their pay for the last three months.

Rocks were thrown and barricades set on fire as several hundred men gathered at the base, one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces, on Sunday.

"They want the coalition forces to sort it out and they have blocked the road here until we do something about it," a British Army spokesman said.

"We have already decided to pay them, to organise payment on Tuesday morning, in two days time."

Once that happened, "this problem will go away," he added.

Threats

BBC correspondent Jon Stewart said he heard shots during the protest, but the British Army said none of their soldiers fired their guns.

The crowd dispersed of their own accord once an agreement had been reached, but some were still dissatisfied.

Some demonstrators questioned why the British remained in their town, Stewart said.

They did not fight during the war because they did not want to defend Saddam, but were unhappy at losing their jobs and made threats against the British troops.

Jon Stewart said it was a small scale demonstration and was not necessarily representative of feelings across the region.

Illegal weapons

The demonstration followed tension in the Basra region over the British presence in the town of Majar al-Kabir.

Six Royal Military Police were killed when a protest about searching houses for illegal weapons got out of hand on Tuesday.

British troops returned to the village on Saturday in a show of force that included 500 troops, Warrior fighting vehicles, Challenger tanks and four attack helicopters.