News Update Place

A British soldier killed after clashes with militants in the Iraqi city of Basra has been named as Lance Corporal Paul David Trevor Thomas.
The 29-year-old, who was not married, was a member of the 2nd Battalion The Light Infantry, attached to the 1st Battalion The Cheshire Regiment.

Lance Corporal Thomas, from Welshpool, mid Wales, was killed in action, a Ministry of Defence spokesman said.

His family described him as a “quiet, gentle and kind man”.

‘Isolated attack’

A second British soldier injured in Tuesday’s incident has not been named.

British troops have been battling Shia militias thought to be loyal to radical Iraqi cleric Moqtada Sadr
Olga Suddell, a cousin of Lance Corporal Thomas, said: “The Army was Paul’s life. From a youngster, all he ever wanted to be was a soldier.

“He was a quiet, gentle and a kind man who could be humorous.”

A British Army spokesman, Squadron Leader Spike Wilson, said the second soldier was still receiving medical treatment for non-life threatening injuries.

A small British patrol had been attacked by a large number of militia with firearms and rocket-propelled grenades on Tuesday evening, he said.

“The patrol defended itself and killed a number of insurgents before withdrawing. Unfortunately, one soldier was killed and another injured.”

‘Anomaly’

Mr Wilson said the attack by up to 50 Iraqi militias was an “isolated” event during a “reasonably quiet last couple of days”.

“The incident was really a bit of an anomaly,” he said.

“Obviously, there are disparate small groups of insurgents, but it is the background level of nuisance activity we are used to.”

He insisted that British forces would continue to operate “normal, low-level” patrols in Iraq.

Troops have battled militias in Basra

Tuesday’s incident takes the number of deaths of British service personnel sent to Iraq to 65.

It follows the roadside bombing of three British civilian vehicles in Basra. Three vehicles were damaged but there were no reports of injuries.

The violence came as a delegation from a national conference in Baghdad was flown into the holy city of Najaf to present Mr Sadr with a peace proposal.

The move was aimed at ending violence there, but fighting intensified on Tuesday despite the arrival.

At least one US warplane dropped bombs near the city’s cemetery - the site of recent clashes between US forces and militants.

Five men kidnapped in Iraq - two Jordanians and three Lebanese - are reported to have been released.
The son of Jordanian Fayez Saad al-Udwan said his father had called to say he and Mohammad Ahmed Salama al-Manaya’a were free.

In the Lebanese city of Tripoli, Nada Sayour said her husband, Kassem Murqbawi, had also called and said he and a colleague had been released.

Reports say businessman Antoine Antoun also called home to say he was free.

Identity unclear

“He said he had been freed, and that his captors had taken nothing from him,” Nada Sayour told Reuters news agency.

The identity of her husband’s colleague was not immediately clear, although Mrs Sayour said it was one of the al-Jundi brothers.

Some reports said it was Nasser al-Jundi, rather than his brother Taha, who was captured at the same time.

The al-Jundi brothers left Lebanon on 1 August carrying electric generators in their lorries, and were seized some time after entering Iraq.

Mr Murqbawi and Khaldoun Othman were carrying a cargo of Lebanese-produced juice when they were abducted at about the same time.

‘Morale high’

There was no news on the fate of Mr Othman and the second Mr Jundi.

A third Lebanese, businessman Antoine Antoun, is thought to be still held in Iraq.

The two Jordanians were kidnapped on 26 July by a group calling itself the Mujahideen Corps in Iraq.

After the group threatened to kill the men, their company, which was providing catering services to the US army, agreed to halt its business in Iraq.

In Jordan, Mohammad al-Udwan, the 26-year-old son of Fayez, said “his morale is high”, and said the pair hoped to return home on Tuesday.