By Andrew Gray WASHINGTON, Sept 12 (Reuters) - The top U.S. commander in Iraq said on Wednesday he did not envisage sending U.S. troops to Basra, despite disquiet in Washington about Britain's pullout from the city. Army Gen. David Petraeus said Shi'ite political parties and militias were engaged in a sometimes violent struggle for power in Iraq's second city but he believed the factions and Iraqi security forces could resolve problems there. "We're in a wait-and-see approach with Basra," Petraeus said at a news conference in Washington. "But we have every expectation that Basra will be resolved by Iraqis." British troops pulled out of their Basra Palace base at the start of this month, redeploying to an air base outside the Shi'ite-dominated southern city. The British government has billed the move as a sign of success, showing Iraqi authorities are now in a position to play a much bigger role in providing security. But some U.S. senators have expressed concern, believing that Western forces are necessary to check Iranian influence and violence by Shi'ite militia groups in the city. The Basra pullout also came at a delicate time for relations between Britain and the United States. Gordon Brown took over as British prime minister from staunch U.S. ally Tony Blair in late June. Although Brown pledged to keep a close ties with Washington, comments from some of his ministers were interpreted as cooler in tone. In recent weeks, retired British military officers have criticized U.S. post-invasion planning in Iraq while U.S. analysts have said that Britain has been defeated in Basra. 'MILDLY HEARTENING' Petraeus said violence in Basra had been at a low level for about the past month and the various factions there appeared to be finding ways to cooperate, a development he described as "mildly heartening." Petraeus, who has been outlining plans to Congress this week to reduce U.S. troop levels in Iraq, acknowledged there were still "lots of challenges" in Basra. "There's militia infiltration. ... All these different parties have elements and different structures in Iraq. But they have come to accommodations that are allowing the functioning of activities down there," he said. Basra is strategically important as a hub for Iraq's southern oil fields and, thanks to its port, a center for imports and exports throughout the Gulf. Criticism of British tactics in Basra by U.S. analysts and retired officers caused alarm among British officials. "We were concerned that some of this rhetoric was in danger of damaging the reputation of the British military and the British government," acknowledged one British official in Washington, speaking on condition that he not be named. Britain responded with a highly unusual joint op-ed piece in the Washington Post by its foreign and defense ministers on Aug. 31, declaring, "It is time to set the record straight." Petraeus said a small U.S. special forces contingent might work with Iraqi counterparts in Basra but Iraqi forces would be responsible for maintaining security. "The presence of those forces ... when it comes to intra-Shia rivalries, can sometimes be enough to keep the situation one in which they're shouting rather than shooting," he said.
