Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki arrived in Iraq's second largest city of Basra on Wednesday in a bid to ease tensions among Shiite factions there.

Al-Maliki, a senior leader of the key Shiite Dawa party, said earlier this week that his visit was aimed at heeling the rift among the Shiite factions and finding a solution for the worsening situation in Basra, a key Shiite-dominated southern city.

He is expected to hold talks with local government officials from the main political parties and religious leaders. Basra had enjoyed relative calm since Saddam Hussein was toppled in March 2003 and about 8,000 British troops are currently deployed there.

But tensions between local Shiites and the British army and among various Shiite factions have been on the rise. The killing of a local policeman by two undercover British soldiers last September triggered large-scale riots and confrontations between British troops and local residents. The security situation has deteriorated sharply in the past year as Shiite factions are locked in heated power struggles and organized crimes are increasing in Basra, a key oil city.

(Xinhua News Agency May 31, 2006)