MoD name dead British soldier

A British soldier killed by small arms fire in Basra has been named as Paul Donnachie.

The 18-year-old rifleman of the 2nd Battalion the Rifles was attacked while on a routine patrol in the Al Ashar district, east of central Basra.

He was getting down from his vehicle and carrying out routine checks at the time of the shooting.

Rifleman Donnachie was immediately evacuated to Basra Palace but died of his injuries.

The rifleman's Company Commander, Major Alex Baring said: "Rifleman Donnachie, or 'Donny' as he was known to his mates, was the epitome of what it is to be professional.

"All those who trained with him remember how studious he was. He'd absorb everything he was taught like a sponge - earning him the nickname 'Potter'."

The latest death will raise concerns among senior officials at the Ministry of Defence, who are still deciding whether to send Prince Harry with his regiment, the Blues and Royals, when they deploy to the troubled country in the coming weeks.

British soldiers have faced one of their bloodiest months so far in Iraq, with 12 servicemen killed through a combination of small arms fire, a helicopter crash and increasingly powerful armour-piercing roadside bombs.

Major David Gell, British military spokesman in Basra, said the death, while tragic, would not deter the troops in Basra from their goal of training up local police and military before the withdrawal.

He described the attack, on a multinational patrol of Bulldog vehicles, as "opportunist" and dismissed a suggestion that British forces were led into a trap by the police training team it was helping to move into Al Ashar.

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