BAGHDAD, May 31 (UPI) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki visited Basra on a mission to restore security to the mainly Shiite city which has experienced rampant violence of late.
Maliki stressed that restoring security to the war-torn country will be the priority of his newly-formed government, the first ever elected administration in Iraq.
Upon his arrival early Wednesday in Basra, Iraq's second largest city after Baghdad and the capital of the south, Maliki held meetings with governor Mohammed Waili, the commander of the Army's 10th Brigade positioned in the city and the police commander in the province to discuss the reasons behind the security deterioration and measures to curb the mounting violence.
Maliki threatened to use force against lawbreakers in case peaceful measures failed to restore security in the city, which was the scene of recent sectarian killings between Shiites and Sunnis that prompted Sunni religious authorities to close down Sunni mosques until further notice.
The city was also the scene of clashes between demonstrators belonging to Shiite parties and British forces, sparked by the crash of a British helicopter over the city which claimed the lives of several Iraqi civilians.
In the meantime, daily acts of violence continued to sweep Iraq Wednesday as unknown gunmen killed the former governor of the province of Diwaniya Jamal Hassouni as he stepped into his car outside his home in the city of Ourouba.
Also late Tuesday night, suspected insurgents killed two police officers in separate incidents in Tikrit and in Samarra, both Sunni strongholds north of Baghdad.
