- Hundreds of photographs have been taken of British servicemen
mistreating Iraqi civilians, it was claimed tonight.
-
- Troops serving in southern Iraq have been swapping the
pictures among themselves, said the unnamed soldiers from the Queen's Lancashire
Regiment who sparked furore over the weekend by releasing photos apparently
showing UK personnel abusing an Iraqi prisoner.
-
- The potentially explosive claims, if proven, would contradict
Prime Minister Tony Blair's assurance that any misconduct in British ranks
was "exceptional" and limited to a handful of servicemen.
-
- Doubts were cast today on the authenticity of the photos,
published in the Daily Mirror yesterday, which appeared to show the hooded
man being struck with a rifle butt, urinated on and having a gun held to
his head.
-
- Sources close to the regiment claimed the rifle, hats
and truck seen in the pictures did not match those issued to men in Iraq,
and queried why there was no sign of sweat, dirt or injuries on the body
of the victim of the alleged assault.
-
- But tonight the soldiers who made the pictures public
told the Mirror: "We stand by every single word of our story.
-
- "This happened, it is not a hoax and the Army knows
a lot more has happened."
-
- The Royal Military Police is carrying out an urgent inquiry
into claims that the man was subjected to an eight-hour ordeal after being
picked up in Iraq for suspected theft last year.
-
- It was claimed that he had his jaw broken and teeth smashed
before being dumped from a moving vehicle.
-
- In tomorrow's edition of the Mirror, the soldiers detail
other alleged incidents of brutality towards local people, including a
baton attack which left a prisoner with a compound fracture to his arm.
-
- Speaking on condition of anonymity, one of the soldiers
said: "Maybe the officers don't know what is going on ñ but
everybody else does. I have seen literally hundreds of pictures."
-
- Many of the pictures were destroyed last September when
the soldiers' luggage was searched as they left Iraq, they said.
-
- A Ministry of Defence spokesman said the authorities
were not aware of other photos of prisoners being mistreated or of a culture
of trading pictures.
-
- "If people have got evidence of such activity, then
they should bring it to the attention of the Army authorities. We won't
stand for activity like that," he said.
-
- ©2004 Scotsman.com http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2870910
|
