The British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair has said there were no plans to reinforce British troops in Basra following two suicide bombings in the city this morning.
In the House of Commons, Mr Blair condemned the bombings, which he described as a sign of desperation by the terrorists.
"The terrorists are becoming sufficiently desperate that they are prepared to attack literally the most defenceless people they can find simply in order to create the maximum chaos," he said.
Foreign Secretary Mr Jack Straw said the attacks were clearly designed to disrupt the transfer of sovereignty to an interim Iraqi administration on June 30th.
The commander of British troops in Basra later refused to blame al Qaida for the attack.
But he said the perpetrators were certainly from outside Basra and "quite possibly" from outside Iraq.
Brigadier Nick Carter told Channel Four News: "All that we can be certain of is that this is something that came from outside. We work very closely with the community down here and our information is very good. I think we also are absolutely clear that nobody in the Shia community would regard this as being something that is worth doing in Basra."
But the mayor of Basra, Wael Abdul-Hafeez, directly blamed Osama bin Laden's al Qaida network.
"I accuse al Qaida," he said. "We have arrested a person disguised in a police uniform. We are questioning him."