US and British forces in Iraq are competing to win local hearts and minds.

The British are in control of the southern province, including the border towns of Umm Qasr and Safwan. The Americans rushing north to Baghdad are more evident in the north and west.

The strategy of deploying British forces in the south is to free up more Americans for frontline duty near Baghdad. The few Americans who are present in the south are there to offer logistics support and help in winning over suspicious local families.

Three weeks before the war started, the people of Basra and surrounding areas were bombarded with leaflets by the US Air Force, asking them to give up their arms and rise against Saddam Hussein.

Since then a small number of American troops patrolling the streets in their Humvees have been broadcasting meesages of hope between snatches of Arabic and Western pop music.

But the Americans never leave the security of their Humvees. The British have also been soliciting local support, but unlike the Americans they actually get out of their armoured cars, take off their flak jackets, and make personal contact with the local population.

The latest British pamphlets distributed on the streets of Umm Qasr say, "People of Basrah, we are here to liberate the people of Iraq. Our enemy is the regime and not the people.

"We need your help to identify the enemy, to rebuild Iraq. English speakers please come forward. We will stay as long as it takes."

In a reference to the 1991 popular uprising encouraged by the US and Britain, but which Washington and London then decided not to support, the leaflets add: "This time we won't abandon you. Be patient, together we will win."

rediff.com Senior Editor Shyam Bhatia is the co-author of Saddam's Bomb, on Iraq's search for nuclear weapons.