They were searching for what they told Arab News was an Iraqi sniper.

Lightning flares were fired into the air to illuminate the area for approaching British troops and vehicles.

They were just meters away from the encampment where Arab News had set up camp for the evening.

At one point, another journalist from France TV2 scanned the surrounding desert with his lights and happened on a crouched soldier from the Irish Brigade. The journalist was ordered to turn off the light as other members from the Irish Brigade made their way toward the journalists’ tent to investigate.

While the troops were speaking with the journalists to ask if they had seen anyone wandering about, lightning flares were launched, bathing the entire area in an eerie orange light. It revealed a number of men running into a residential area half a kilometer away.

Troops radioed to their command center and headed in that direction in total darkness after the flares extinguished.

Everything remained quiet for a while.

About an hour later, 200 meters away from our camp, machine-gun fire suddenly rang out as British troops fired on the suspected sniper. It sent the journalists scrambling for cover. It is still unclear what the outcome of the gunfire was.

In the distance, bright flashes and the sound of heavy artillery fire accompanied the sound of bombers and jets flying overhead, as the fight for Basra further continued. A bright orange glow could be seen in the distance as parts of the city, 40 minutes away from Umm Qasr, burned throughout the night.

A British marine at the checkpoint told Arab News: “We are holding people back for their own safety as the situation is still bad there. There are still Iraqi troops in Basra, and they are using the civilians as shields. These people do not understand the situation, and are angry at us.”

Downwind from the soldier were burned out hulks of Iraqi armored carriers. The smell of burned flesh emanated from them.

According to the refugees flowing out of Basra yesterday afternoon interviewed by Arab News, Iraqi defense forces have been using defense tactics that have been leading to Iraqi civilian casualties — a direct result of intensive fire from American and British forces.

As Salman Al-Badran, 43, a carpenter who left Basra for Umm Qasr concerned about his family’s safety, told Arab News, after a night of heavy bombardment at Basra “the Iraqi troops are putting themselves at the middle of the civilian community and firing back at the British forces with their RPGs. The coalition forces are then firing back and hitting the civilian community. The hospitals are full and we have run out of critical supplies.”

“There’s a petroleum company on the outskirts of Basra that has a residential complex of some 50 houses,” he continued. “It was occupied by 75 workers. Iraqi troops went in last night and opened fire on coalition troops from there. The result was that all the houses have been destroyed and all 75 civilians, who included women and children, were killed.”

On the road from Umm Qasr to Basra are the burned out shells of what used to be Iraqi anti-aircraft guns. There are various army camps, one occupied by Iraqi troops. A poster of a smiling Saddam welcomes you to Basra. Other posters have had the face of Saddam shot off, and some have been pasted over.

Among the burned out Iraqi tanks are three burned out coalition forces tanks, demonstrating that the US/UK forces did lose some personnel and equipment.

Arab News asked several of the refugees waiting to enter Basra what they thought of regime change. Accompanying Arab News were several international TV crews. What the refugees said on and off camera were very different things.

On camera, the general feeling among the crowd was sorrow at losing Saddam. Off camera, the citizens of Umm Qasr and Basra appeared genuinely exhilarated at the prospect of a brighter future, after Saddam had been removed.

Also outside Basra 300 refugees were attempting to get into the city to be with their families. They were awaiting permission from UK troops to enter Basra, the majority wanting to be with their family. Many of these Iraqi citizens left Basra five days ago to bring food and water and other supplies they thought would be available from the Red Crescent Society, which they could take back to their families living without electricity and water.

Many of them had made the trip on foot, expecting to find rations promised them in leaflets dropped by coalition forces. When they arrived at Umm Qasr, however, they found nothing except what one of them told Arab News was “a ghost town.”

At the final checkpoint before Basra, where 300 hundred people crouched under the watchful eyes of armed British Royal Marines, were also several crates of what used to be fresh tomatoes.

The owner told Arab News: “I have been standing here with these tomatoes for three days, waiting to be let into Basra. We have no electricity or running water there, and the stores are either bombed out or empty after being looted. Our families are inside and they need us. We are all sick with worry. We know that the situation is quite dangerous, but we have to be with our women and children.”