Iraq PM declares state of emergency in Basra

BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Wednesday declared a state of emergency for a month in oil-rich Basra which is in the grip of a power struggle among Shi'ite factions.

"We hope after this month that we will come back to Basra and see that the situation has improved a lot," Maliki told reporters in Iraq's second city after announcing the measure.

Security forces will be deployed in the streets of Basra day and night and they will also conduct search operations, a government source told Reuters, giving more details.

Maliki, who was heading a high-level government delegation to Basra to restore security, earlier vowed to crack down with an "iron fist" on gangs threatening security in the southern city.

Security has deteriorated sharply in Basra over the past year as rival factions from the Shi'ite Muslim majority tussle for a share of the power handed to Shi'ites by the U.S. overthrow of Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated administration.

Basra, whose oil accounts for virtually all of Iraq's state revenues, is a major prize for all parties.

Stressing Basra was crucial for the country, Maliki earlier told local leaders in an address broadcast live on television:

"We will beat with an iron fist on the heads of gangs who are manipulating security ... Security is first, second and third. This must be said."

Maliki is a leading member of the ruling, but fractious, Shi'ite Islamist United Alliance.

The main Alliance factions in Basra's power struggle are the armed Badr organisation, the governor's Fadhila party and the movement of cleric and militia leader Moqtada al-Sadr.

A source close to Fadhila warned last week it could halt oil exports.

U.S. HOPES

The United States hopes Maliki's grand coalition of Shi'ites, minority Sunni Arabs and Kurds will tackle widespread guerrilla and sectarian violence that threatens to tear Iraq apart.

But there is little sign of any let-up in the cycle of killings and revenge attacks, with a spate of bombings claiming at least 100 lives this week, mainly in Baghdad. Most of the victims were civilians.

Police said they had found 42 bodies over the last 24 hours in different parts of the capital, many of them shot, bound and showing signs of torture.

Also in Baghdad, gunmen killed Ali Jaafar, sports anchorman for Iraqi state television, as he left his home, police said.

Several journalists from the government-funded station have been targeted by insurgents waging a violent campaign to topple U.S.-backed Iraqi leaders.

Further north, the mayor of Muqdadiya, his brother and cousin were killed when a bomb planted in his office went off.

Although the southern mainly Shi'ite region patrolled by British forces has been less violent than Sunni Arab areas patrolled by Americans further north, Basra has become far more dangerous in recent months.

Shi'ites and minority Sunnis, including leading clerics, have been targeted in recent violence in the area.

Two British soldiers were killed by a suspected roadside bomb in Basra on Sunday, in the bloodiest month for British soldiers since the U.S.-led invasion.

(Additional reporting by Mariam Karouny, Aseel Kami, Hiba Moussa, Omar al-Ibadi, Alastair Macdonald and Fredrik Dahl in Baghdad)