Fifty staged death ambush on British soldier

Details of an ambush involving more than 50 Iraqi insurgents which left one British soldier dead and another injured emerged today.

Followers of Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr surrounded the two men as they drove in Basra, attacking their vehicle with rifles, machineguns and rocket- propelled grenades.

The dead soldier was today named as Lance Corporal Paul David Trevor Thomas.

The unmarried 29-year-old, from Welshpool, Wales, was a member of 2nd Battalion The Light Infantry, attached to the 1st Battalion The Cheshire Regiment.

The second soldier, who has not yet been named, suffered nonlifethreatening injuries and is receiving treatment.

A number of al-Sadr's supporters, who have been behind an upsurge of violence in the southern cities of Basra and Najaf, were also killed.

The killing came shortly after radicals bombed three British civilian vehicles as they drove through Basra. Reports suggested no one was injured in the bombings. The incident takes the number of British deaths in Iraq to 65.

Meanwhile Iraq's defence minister today gave Sadr's militiamen in the holy city of Najaf hours to surrender. He warned that troops were preparing for a major assault to "teach them a lesson they will never forget".

Defence Minister Hazim al-Shaalan said: "They have a chance. In the next few hours they have to surrender themselves and their weapons. We are in the process of completing all our military preparations."

Violence was reported in several areas of Basra yesterday.

Al-Sadr militants attacked two civilian cars reportedly carrying foreigners, destroying the vehicles and injuring two people, said Basra police colonel Kareem Sadkhan.

He said those inside the vehicle, possibly Britons, exchanged fire with the militants, wounding one and a bystander.

Squadron Leader Spike Wilson

reported three British civilian vehicles damaged in a roadside bomb attack in Basra, but he could not confirm their nationalities.

Sq Ldr Wilson said he had no reports of injuries.

The violence has made the agreement of a peace deal between Shia militiamen and allied forces less likely than ever.

Yesterday a delegation of leading Iraqis flew into Najaf to present al- Sadr with a peace proposal at the besieged Imam Ali shrine.

But despite the delegation's arrival, fighting intensified, with at least one US warplane dropping bombs near the city's sprawling cemetery - the site of recent clashes between American forces and Shia militants.

But al-Sadr refused to see them after a spokesman said the cleric had reservations about the envoys.

Private Marc Ferns, 20, was driving an armoured vehicle when he was caught in the explosion in Basra last week. He was killed instantly.

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