Iraqi lawmakers to hold emergency session Friday

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi lawmakers will hold an emergency session on Friday to discuss ways of ending violence in the oil city of Basra, where security forces have launched a crackdown on Shi'ite militia, the parliament's speaker said.

"Today (Thursday) we reviewed the situation in Basra. We agreed to hold an emergency session tomorrow to discuss the Basra situation and how to resolve it," speaker Mahmoud Mashhadani told Reuters.

U.S.-backed Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki vowed on Thursday that security forces would battle Shi'ite militia in Basra "to the end" despite huge demonstrations to demand his resignation.

Mehdi Army Fighters loyal to cleric Moqtada al-Sadr remained in control of much of Basra, Iraq's second biggest city and main oil hub, defying a three-day government offensive that has led to violence spreading across the south and Baghdad.

Mashhadani said representatives of Shi'ite and Sunni parties in parliament, including lawmakers loyal to Sadr, had agreed to attend the special session starting at 3 p.m. (8 a.m. EDT).

Authorities have imposed a three-day curfew in the capital to contain the clashes.

(Reporting by Ross Colvin; editing by Ibon Villelabeitia)