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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Doubt cast on UK forces’ "Iraq torture" photos |
| 2004-05-01 |
| The scare quotes in the title are mine. It’s 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 man’s ordeal. However the BBC’s defence correspondent Paul Adams says sources close to The Queen’s 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 Queen’s 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 Queen’s 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 |
| #2 Devious sort that I am, it has crossed my mind that the photos might have been faked and fed to Al Mirror specifically so they could be exposed later. They really are pretty obvious. |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2004-05-01 7:33:50 PM |
| #1 HELL YEAH!! I called bullshit on Al Mirror's pics earlier today at LGF: Note that the Mirror, a notorious fifth-column tabloid, claims to have to conceal the source of these pictures even though a military invesigation is underway. |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2004-05-01 6:39:03 PM |