Basra boils over; British troops battle fuel riots

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/106078414419.htm

BASRA (Reuters) - British troops clashed with stone-throwing Iraqi rioters on Saturday as anger over fuel and power shortages erupted onto the streets of Basra in a blaze of burning Kuwaiti vehicles and smoking barricades of tyres.

In some of the most widespread violence seen in the Shi'ite Muslim south since Saddam Hussein fell four months ago, local people directed their anger at Kuwaitis they accuse of conniving at smuggling out cheap Iraqi oil and at the British who they say have failed to restore services to prewar standards.

Witnesses saw troops fire in the air and loose off baton rounds at a gas station where queues formed a flashpoint for the trouble. As temperatures soar above 50 degrees (120 Fahrenheit), fridges and air conditioners have stuttered to a halt in Basra. Household generators are running low on diesel.

It was a reminder U.S.-led forces face problems not only among the Sunni Muslim minority in Saddam's heartlands north and west of Baghdad, where American troops are taking a daily toll of casualties they blame on diehard Saddam loyalists.

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[rjbcar27]

1. No offence Don but this is hardly breaking news.

This all happened on Saturday.

[NNN0LHI]

4. You're right.The dateline on the piece fooled me: 13 Aug 2003 14:13:00 GMT

I will ask the mods to pull this thread. Sorry and no offence taken at all.

Don

[Beetwasher]

2. Iraq is sitting on the second largest oil reserves in the world

and there's fucking fuel shortages?!!!? Could we possibly fuck this up any more???

[bif]

3. Hey, give us time

and we WILL fuck this up even more. Just wait and see.