Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki declared on Wednesday a state of emergency in the southern city of Basra in a bid to rein in the unrest there, officials said.

Al-Maliki declared the monthlong state of emergency when he paid a visit to Basra, Iraq's second largest city of some 550 km southeast of Baghdad, a top Shiite official said.

The prime minister arrived in Basra on Wednesday in an effort to ease tensions among Shiite factions there, said the official.

Basra, a key oil and port city in Iraq, had enjoyed relative calm since Saddam Hussein was toppled in 2003 and about 8,000 British troops are currently deployed there.

But the security situation has deteriorated sharply in recent months as Shiite factions are locked in heated power struggles and organized crimes are increasing in the oil-rich city.

Source: Xinhua