|
Doubt cast on UK forcesâ "Iraq torture" photos
The scare quotes in the title are mine. Itâs not like the Beeb to be stingy with the scare quotes...An investigation is under way into claims that British troops humiliated and assaulted an Iraqi prisoner before throwing him from a moving lorry. The claims were made in the Daily Mirror which carried photos allegedly taken during the manâs ordeal. However the BBCâs defence correspondent Paul Adams says sources close to The Queenâs Lancashire Regiment believe many aspects of the photographs are extremely suspicious. He says they believe the pictures may not have been taken in Iraq. > They believe the rifle is an SA80 mk 1 - which was not issued to troops in Iraq. The Mirror says the pictures were handed over by British soldiers from The Queenâs Lancashire Regiment who claimed a rogue element in the British Army was responsible for abusing prisoners and civilians. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the soldiers told the paper no charges were brought against the unnamed captive. They allege that during his eight-hour ordeal he was threatened with execution, his jaw broken and his teeth smashed. After being beaten and urinated on, he was driven away and dumped from the back of a moving vehicle, the soldiers claimed, unaware if he was dead. The reason for making the photos public was, they said, to show why the US-UK coalition was encountering such fierce resistance in Iraq. Army spokesman Roger Goodwin, on behalf of The Queenâs Lancashire Regiment, said there was "clearly some form of link to the regiment". "But the precise form of that link, including whether the soldiers involved in the alleged atrocities were members of the QLR, needs to be established. He added: "There is no place in our regiment for individuals capable of such appalling and sickening behaviour. "The sooner they are exposed and ejected from the regiment, the better." Posted by: Bulldog 2004-05-01 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=31977 |