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Special unit to target Prince Harry, Mahdi army says

Prince Harry will be a prime kidnap target for insurgents in Iraq, a commander in the Mahdi army, the Shia militia loyal to the radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, said.

"One of our aims is to capture Harry, we have people inside the British bases to inform us on when he will arrive," said Abu Mujtaba, who commands a unit of approximately 50 men in Basra.

In comments denounced by British defense sources as "blatant propaganda," Abu Mujtaba said: "We have a special unit that would work to track him down, with informants inside the bases."

"Not only us, the Mahdi army ... will try to capture him, but every person who hates the British and the Americans will try to get him, all the mujahidin in Iraq ... al-Qaeda, the Iranians all will try to get him," he said.

Abu Mujtaba allegedly has a number of men under his command as well as weaponry including rockets, but there is no independent evidence to substantiate his claims that militias have infiltrated British bases, or established a unit to target Prince Harry.

Abu Mujtaba continued: "For me he is just a British soldier and he should be killed if comes to Iraq, but let's be realistic, we can kill hundreds of British soldiers before forcing them to withdraw -- like what's happening with Americans now -- but Harry is a bigger catch and we will force the British to come on their knees and talk to us."

A senior Iraqi defense ministry official said that militias could overrun Basra relatively easily because they had successfully infiltrated local security forces.

"When the Brits formed these forces they depended on these militias for lists of recruits," he said.
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