Basra Says No To Brits

Local Iraqis are boycotting the Brits in Basra:

Local authorities in southern Iraq said they would have no dealings with British forces who stormed a Basra jail to release two of their men, even as Baghdad and London sought to downplay the incident.

"All regular meetings between the governorate and British troops have been cancelled and we will not allow British soldiers into the governorate building or any other public office in Basra," Nadim al-Jabiri, spokesman for the provincial governor in Basra, told AFP on Thursday.

As usual, the Brits go into full deny,deny, deny mode while they await order from their spin-meisters:

"We are aware of reports of a boycott, but we are waiting until we can establish that is the case and come up with a plan," British army spokesman Major Steve Melbourne told AFP.

Expect the Brits to have a word with their Iraqi mates in Baghdad and try to force the locals into a back-down. And if that doesn't work... ?

Meanwhile the US is bombing an entire Iraqi town (another one) after four US contractors were killed there. Juan Cole calls it a "simple sort of tribal revenge". So much for the Bush team's stratergery...