Riots erupt in Basra again

British troops fired warning shots in the Iraqi city of Basra yesterday as hundreds of locals rioted for a second day, attacking vehicles and burning tires in protest at power and fuel shortages.

British armored vehicles patrolled the streets, with troops in body armor, as crowds barricaded roads with burning tires and hurled chunks of concrete at passing cars.

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At least one Iraqi was hurt in the violence. People who brought him to hospital said he had been shot in the shoulder by someone among the rioters.

A British military spokesman said troops were equipped and ready to deal with the rioting. Saturday, they fired in the air, donned riot gear and loosed off baton rounds at crowds who torched a Kuwaiti tanker truck and Kuwait-registered cars.

There was a heavy military presence around the city.

"There is a larger presence just to be sure that people understand that we take security very seriously," the spokesman, Major Charlie Mayo, told Reuters.

Local people accuse Kuwaitis of conniving at smuggling out cheap Iraqi oil and also vented their anger at what they feel is the British failure to improve basic services four months after they and the Americans toppled Saddam Hussein.

"They did not give us what they promised, and we have had enough of waiting," said 19-year-old student Hassan Jasim.

Like most of Iraq, Basra has been plagued by power cuts that have crippled air conditioning and refrigeration during the hottest part of the summer, with temperatures over 120 Fahrenheit.

Even those with household generators have been unable to use them due to shortages of fuel which the British authorities have blamed on smugglers trucking or shipping cheap supplies from Basra's abundant oilfields to Kuwait or into the Gulf.

Residents' patience had run out.

"It's not political. We don't have fuel, electricity or salaries," said taxi driver Fadel Salman.

A tanker laden with diesel, seized by British marines off the Iraqi coast, was due to dock at nearby Umm Qasr later on Sunday. "It's known to be a smuggler ship," a British spokesman said.