Military police quiz soldier over Iraqi PoW 'torture' pictures

MILITARY police were questioning a British soldier in custody yesterday after photographs emerged allegedly showing troops "torturing" Iraqi prisoners of war.

Photograph developers were thought to have called police after they became concerned about a number of pictures on a roll of film that had been handed in to their shop for processing.

One of the images showed an Iraqi PoW gagged and bound, hanging in netting from a fork-lift truck driven by a British soldier, according to the Sun newspaper.

The British Ministry of Defence confirmed a soldier was being held in military custody while the Special Investigations Branch of the Royal Military Police launched an inquiry. If the

allegations are found to be true, the soldiers involved would be guilty of a breach of the Geneva Convention which rules that PoWs have to be treated humanely.

An MoD spokeswoman said: "We confirm an investigation is under way into allegations of photos depicting maltreatment of Iraqi PoWs. We

cannot comment further. But if there is any truth in these allegations the MoD is appalled. We take responsibility of PoWs extremely seriously." The MoD could not confirm details of the man's identity, unit or home town.

But according to the Sun, the unnamed soldier was serving in the 1st battalion Royal Regiment of Fusiliers part of the famous Desert Rats in southern Iraq at the time of the alleged events. The newspaper reported that he was arrested by civilian police at his home in Staffordshire, where he was on leave.