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Some soldiers were forced to flee after their tanks caught fire
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British forces have rescued two UK servicemen who were arrested by Iraqi police in the southern city of Basra.
Official Iraqi sources say British tanks stormed the
city's jail in what Basra governor Mohammed al-Waili called a "barbaric
act of aggression".
The Ministry of Defence said the release of the men was negotiated.
The arrests sparked unrest in which UK tanks came under
attack. Reports claimed two Iraqi civilians were killed and three
soldiers injured.
'Daring rescue'
The two men - thought to be British servicemen working undercover - were accused of opening fire on local police.
MoD officials said the men were being handed over to the British when local militants intervened and attempted to snatch them.
Soldiers forming a cordon around the police station
became involved, and a wall was demolished by a British tank as they
struggled to "collect" the men, the MoD said.
However, sources in the Iraqi Interior Ministry said six
tanks were used to smash down the wall in a daring rescue operation of
the two men, who are accused of firing at local police.
Witnesses told the Associated Press around 150 prisoners
escaped during the operation but Iraqi officials denied any prisoners
had escaped.
Flaming tanks
Earlier, two British tanks, sent to the police station where the soldiers were being held, were set alight in clashes.
Crowds of angry protesters hurled petrol bombs and stones, injuring three servicemen and several civilians.
TV pictures showed soldiers in combat gear clambering from one of the flaming tanks and making their escape.
British officials would not say if the two men were working undercover
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In a statement, Defence Secretary John Reid said the soldiers who fled from the tanks were being treated for minor injuries.
Mr Reid added that he was not certain what had caused the disturbances.
"We remain committed to helping the Iraqi government for
as long as they judge that a coalition presence is necessary to provide
security," the statement said.
Tensions have been running high in the city since the arrest of a senior figure in the Shia Mehdi Army by UK troops.
But Colonel Tim Collins, the former commander of British
troops in Iraq, described the Basra unrest as like a "busy night in
Belfast".
Col Collins said it did not represent a breakdown of law and order in Basra, which was still a safer city than Baghdad.
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We remain committed to helping the Iraqi government
