BAGHDAD, March 22 (Reuters) - Rival Shi'ite gunmen clashed in the centre of the southern Iraqi city of Basra, the hub of the great southern oil field that is the source of most of the country's wealth, Iraqi officials said.

The fighting erupted just two days after British forces pulled out of their base in the heart of Basra, Iraq's second city.

Details of the fighting were sketchy but a Shi'ite official in Baghdad said the fighting was between fighters loyal to Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and the small but locally powerful Fadhila party.

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