British officials would not say if the two men were working under cover
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Monday brought high drama in Basra, with the arrest of two
soldiers, the storming by UK forces of the police station where they
were held and their final rescue from the hands of militants.
It was also a day of confusion, with a succession of fast-moving events and conflicting reports.
BBC News Online traces the sequence of events as they unfolded.
Tensions were already high in Basra on Monday morning
following the detention on Sunday of a senior figure in the Shia Mehdi
Army, suspected of being behind a series of attacks on British troops.
Then two British soldiers, reportedly dressed as Arabs
and driving a civilian car, attracted the notice of police at a
checkpoint.
According to the Iraqi authorities they refused to stop,
instead allegedly firing at the officers, killing one and wounding
another. This has not been confirmed by the Ministry of Defence.
After allegedly declining to reveal their mission, the men were arrested and taken to the main Basra police station.
Arrests
Basra officials said the men were working under cover, which the Ministry of Defence has not confirmed.
After learning of their arrest, the British military
requested that they be handed over to coalition forces in accordance
with agreed procedures.
British tanks were set alight
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The Iraqi government in Baghdad apparently agreed and
ordered the handover, but this seems to have been disregarded by the
police.
With fears for the prisoners' safety mounting, British troops surrounded the police station, setting up a cordon.
Iraqi demonstrators also started to gather, demanding
the soldiers be kept in detention and sent to jail. Violent clashes
broke out.
The troops were pelted with stones and petrol bombs,
attacked with rockets and their armoured vehicles were set alight,
forcing them to withdraw.
Bloodstains
Photographs and video footage showing soldiers having to
jump clear of the burning vehicles, one with his uniform ablaze,
shocked viewers back in the UK.
Three soldiers were injured in the clashes - none seriously - and two civilians reportedly killed.
Iraqi police released pictures of two bearded men in
seemingly bloodstained clothes - one with a bandaged head - who they
said were the captured soldiers.
At 1630 BST, the British government issued a request that the faces of the two men be disguised by news outlets.
Images of a soldier with his uniform ablaze shocked UK viewers
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But they continued to refuse to comment on claims the
men were special forces or working under cover, saying only that they
were negotiating with the Iraqi authorities for their release.
Later, witnesses and Iraqi officials reported that
British forces had used tanks to smash down a wall at the police
station to free the arrested troops in a dramatic rescue.
The Iraqi governor of Basra, Mohammed al-Waili, condemned the action as "barbaric, savage and irresponsible".
Reports that as many as 150 Iraqi prisoners had also been freed were later denied by British and Basra authorities.
The British Embassy in Iraq confirmed the men had been
freed and taken into British custody but gave no details of how this
had been achieved.
Militants
But the MoD denied any knowledge of the police station being stormed, saying it understood the release had been negotiated.
It was not until a few hours later that the department
admitted a wall at the police station had been accidentally demolished
as troops tried to "collect" the captives, whose release had been
negotiated with Iraqi authorities.
A spokesman said British troops had intervened after
reports that militants had tried to spirit the men away as they were
due to be released.
Finally, early on Tuesday morning, another version of events emerged.
Brigadier John Lorimer, commanding officer of 12
Mechanised Brigade in Basra, said he ordered troops to storm the police
station after being told the prisoners had been handed to "militia
elements".
The MoD said an armoured vehicle had been used to break down a section of the compound wall so troops could enter.
Questions
A search of the building confirmed they were not there.
It is understood local police finally revealed their location at gunpoint, though no shots were said to have been fired.
The pair were eventually discovered in a house in Basra and rescued by troops.
The men were said to be in good health, but the incident
has sparked concerns for the state of relations between British forces
in Basra and the local police.
It has also raised questions about links between sections of the Basra police and the Mehdi Army militants.
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