WASHINGTON, April 8 (Reuters) - An Iraqi operation to tackle Shi'ite militia in the southern city of Basra was a disappointment and not adequately planned or prepared, the top U.S. commander in Iraq said on Tuesday.

"There's no question that it could have been better planned and that the preparations could have been better," Army Gen. David Petraeus told the U.S. Senate's committee on armed services.

"It was not adequately planned or prepared," he said.

Asked by Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain of Arizona whether the operation had been a disappointment, Petraeus agreed that it had been.

The operation launched two weeks ago by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to tackle Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army militia sparked intense fighting in both Basra and Baghdad and has yet to produce a conclusive outcome. (Reporting by Andrew Gray, editing by Lori Santos)

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