Serious crime in the Serious Crime Unit in Basra

AP/NY Times:

British troops raided a police station in the southern Iraqi city of Basra on Monday after receiving intelligence that a renegade Iraqi police unit might execute its prisoners, the British military said.

Leaders of the station's serious crimes unit were suspected of involvement with local death squads, and seven were apprehended three days ago in British military raids, said Lt. Jenny Saleh of the British Royal Navy in Basra.

''We had intelligence to indicate that the serious crimes unit would execute its prisoners in the coming days, so we decided to intervene,'' Saleh said.

British officials said that after the first round of raids on Friday, the renegade police may have considered killing their prisoners. They did not elaborate.

British forces surrounded the station late Sunday night and launched the raid at 2 a.m. on Monday, an Iraqi police official said on condition of anonymity because of security concerns.

The troops were fired on as they approached the station, and killed seven gunmen, said Maj. Charlie Burbridge, a British military spokesman.

British and Iraqi forces transferred all 76 prisoners at the police station to another detention facility in downtown Basra, Burbridge said. Once the station was evacuated, British forces destroyed it with explosives.

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Bringing the rule of law to the police in Iraq may be one of the biggest challenges of the war. Several months ago the Brits had to spring some of their own troops from on Iraqi jail after they were taken by a group tied to the militias. At least they were able to identify the offending unit and take action. While the Iraqi government did disband one police unit in Baghdad, there is still significant corruption and infiltration in the police units.