A US Marine Corps squad leader was charged today with murdering 12 people and ordering other Marines under his command to kill six people during an incident that left 24 civilians dead in the Iraqi town of Haditha last year.

ABUSE of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers may be widespread and orchestrated by US intelligence agencies including the CIA, it was claimed yesterday.

General Sir Michael Jackson, the British Chief of General Staff, may be forced to cancel his appearance at the Bloody Sunday Inquiry because of war in the Gulf, it emerged today.