British armor then encircled the jail where the two Britons were held.
Television cameramen from Arab satellite broadcasters in the Persian Gulf were allowed to photograph the two men, who appeared to be Westerners and were sitting on the floor in the jail in blue jeans and T-shirts, their hands tied behind their backs.
One of the men had a bandage covering most of the top of his head, the other had blood on his clothes.
Outside the jail, a melee broke out in the streets as angry demonstrators attacked the encircling British armor with stones and Molotov cocktails. During the chaos, one British soldier could be seen scrambling for his life from a burning Warrior armored fighting vehicle and the rock-throwing mob.
Press Association reported that three British soldiers were hurt during the violence, but said none of their injuries was life-threatening. Iraqi authorities said three demonstrators were killed and 15 others wounded in the skirmishes.
Lorimer, the brigade commander, claimed Monday's violence was blown out of proportion, saying the scene made for "graphic television viewing" but that "this was a small, unrepresentative crowd of about 200 to 300 in a city of 1.5 million."
Tensions have been mounting in Basra for some weeks.
On Friday, a local commander of al-Mahdi Army, a militia loyal to the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, was arrested, prompting a demonstration by militiamen demanding his release.
Then, later Sunday, an Iraqi journalist working for the New York Times was killed after men claiming to be police officers took him from his home, the newspaper said.
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