…security force chief tells interpreters for British Army:

Iraqi interpreters working for the British Army have been advised to leave Basra or be killed.

The warning was issued by a leading member of the city’s security forces after militiamen attacked and destroyed the home of one interpreter and narrowly failed to kidnap another. There were unconfirmed reports yesterday that a third had been killed.

“All the interpreters have to leave Basra because these militia will never let them rest. They will kill everybody they know [who worked for the British],” Colonel Saleem Agaa Alzabon, who leads Basra’s special forces, said. “The interpreters have to leave. They have no choice.”

(via Dan)

Unfortunately, another escape route has been closed:

Officials of the United Nations Refugee Agency in Damascus have sounded the alarm over Syria’s new visa rules for Iraqis after a survey found the border “virtually empty” for “the first time in months, if not years.” Before Sept. 10, no visa was required to enter the country.

“The regulations effectively mean there is no longer a safe place outside for Iraqis fleeing persecution and violence,” Ron Redmond, a spokesman for the agency, said.

A spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commissioner For Refugees told Radio Free Europe that fleeing the country is now “difficult if not impossible” for many Iraqis, especially the poor.

(via Jamie)

The UK government have a moral responsibility towards these people.

Update: Garry:

Still, I’m sure the militias mean get out or die after the Prime Minister’s trilateral ministerial review to consider the options has presented recommendations to Ministers in late September. At this stage, surely the militias realise that it would not be appropriate to pre-empt the recommendations…