THE militia believed to have seized five British hostages in Baghdad last week has called for UK forces in southern Iraq to be confined to base.

Representatives of the Mahdi Army of Moqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shi’ite cleric, have demanded an immediate end to patrols in Basra and attempts to kill its leaders, according to one well connected but unconfirmed source.

They are also seeking the release of nine Mahdi officials from British and American custody, including Sheikh Abdul al-Hadi Darraji, Sadr’s chief spokesman, who was detained by US troops in January.

In public statements the Iranian-backed Mahdi Army has denied that it abducted the British computer expert and four security guards captured in an audacious raid on Iraq’s finance ministry last Tuesday.

However, according to a senior Iraqi government source, one of Sadr’s officials visited Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister, on Wednesday night. The official said the men were “safe and sound” but would not be freed until the Mahdi demands were met, the source added.

Maliki is said to have responded by urging that the hostages be freed immediately and promising that an agreement would follow.

As the hunt for the hostages intensified, an SAS major in charge of about 300 British special forces in Baghdad was playing a leading role.

The British team comprised around 80 SAS men, 120 para-troopers from the Special Forces Support Group and 100 intelligence experts including members of the Special Reconnaissance Regiment. The intelligence effort was augmented by a small team from MI6.

Early sweeps of Baghdad were focused on Sadr city, a sprawling Shi’ite slum with 2m inhabitants. One Mahdi Army source said that as a result the hostages had been transferred to Diyala province, between Baghdad and the Iranian border.

The meeting in Maliki’s office followed an approach by an Iraqi MP allied to the Mahdi Army, who offered to introduce what one source called a “Sadrist mediator”.

He is said to have called for the curbs on British forces after they supported an Iraqi operation in which Abu Qadir, the militia’s leader in Basra, was shot dead.

Additional reporting: Michael Smith

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