The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
696.
Prime Minister
Maliki recognised the need to tackle the militia but believed that,
in
destroying
the NIIA Office, UK officers had contravened the understanding
between the
Iraqi
Government and the coalition.
697.
On 22 March,
disturbances between JAM and Fadhila in Basra city centre left
the
Governor
and Fadhila “severely rattled” and “beginning to question the
advisability of
PIC if the
Iraqi authorities can’t guarantee security”.368
698.
Mr Richard
Jones, who had succeeded Dr Marsden as the British Consul
General
in Basra on
5 March, wrote:
“The
immediate winner from the mayhem was JAM … But I think JAM’s
triumph will
be pretty
short‑lived. It continues to disintegrate into splinter groups …
And it should
realise
that the public appetite for this sort of blatant violence has real
limits … If
there is a
single winner from 22 March, it may be Badr/SCIRI, who stood apart
from
the fray
…”
699.
Mr Jones
reported that the impact of the incident had been:
“Prominent
Basrawis whom the GOC and I have met this week have all
expressed
concerns
about future power struggles, particularly after transition to PIC.
The
general
atmosphere among the local population remains one of fear,
insecurity
and a lack
of trust in public institutions … That said, the Iraqi authorities
and the
figures
mediating between the parties … managed to keep a lid on the
situation …
So we
should clearly continue our work to prepare the security forces to
take on full
responsibility
as soon as possible. And we should prepare ourselves for the fact
that
… the
political solutions may not always be the ones that we would
instinctively go
for – what
matters is that they buy the consent of Basrawi
citizens.”
700.
Mr Blair
wrote on Mr Jones’ report: “How do we get a clear sense of who
will
control
Basra & who do we want?”369
On 23
March, 15 personnel from the frigate HMS Cornwall were captured by
the Iranian
navy.370
They were
undertaking what the MOD described as a routine patrol in Iraqi
waters
and had
been travelling in one of two small boats launched in order to
board a vessel
believed to
have a suspect cargo. Iranian state television reported, however,
that their
boat had
entered Iranian waters.
368
Letter
Jones to Aldred, 29 March 2007, ‘Basra: Weekly
Report’.
369
Manuscript
comment Blair on Letter Jones to Aldred, 29 March 2007, ‘Basra:
Weekly Report’.
370
BBC
News, 23 March
2007, UK sailors
captured at gunpoint’; House of
Commons, Official
Report,
16 April
2007, columns 23‑28.
130