"The targetting and eradication of the Baath party within Basra province is now our primary focus and military main effort," Colonel Chris Vernon told reporters here.

Vernon said that a senior unnamed Baath party official was now in British custody and was being questioned.

British forces had destroyed two statues within Basra on Saturday, Vernon said, although he refused to give an exact location.

"They drove in and destroyed two statues. In out in out," he said. The statues were believed to be those of Saddam.

Such an operation was designed to deal a psychological blow to the ruling Baath party and show that the British can now operate "with a degree of impunity" around Basra, Vernon said.

But Vernon said there was "no rush" for the British to take full control of the city. "It's a military operation. We will do it on our terms and on our conditions."

Asked about the humanitarian situation within the city, the spokesman said that living conditions had been poor for some time before the campaign to topple Saddam Hussein was launched. But he said that talk of a humanitarian crisis was overstated.

"The water is on and working at 40 percent capacity. There are food stocks of up to a month or more. A humanitarian crisis is not yet evident. That said, we would wish to improve their living conditions as soon as we can."

Vernon would not say how many Iraqi militia had been killed or captured in the campaign around Basra but he added that there were now "up to 3,000 in our prisoner of war cage in Umm Qasr" a nearby deep-water port.

WAR.WIRE