Mirror abuse pictures ‘were faked’

PICTURES purportedly showing British soldiers abusing an Iraqi detainee were “categorically” not taken in Iraq, the British Government said yesterday.

Armed forces minister Adam Ingram said an investigation into the pictures published in the Daily Mirror had now established that the Army lorry in which they were shot had never been in the country.

He called on Mirror editor Piers Morgan to co-operate fully with the ongoing inquiry by the Royal Military Police Special Investigation Branch (SIB) into how the pictures were taken.

The finding will come as a relief to both the British government and army, which have been under intense pressure since the publication earlier this month of the pictures apparently showing soldiers beating and urinating on a hooded detainee.

Following the publication of genuine photographs of US troops abusing and humiliating prisoners in the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad, they caused widespread revulsion in the Middle East and around the world.

Although the authenticity of the British pictures was widely questioned by other newspapers, the Mirror last night continued to stand by them.

Opening a Commons debate, on the armed forces Mr Ingram said the SIB's finding that the pictures were not taken in Iraq had been "independently corroborated".

However, he said he could not release the evidence as the SIB inquiry was continuing and could still lead to criminal proceedings against those involved in producing the photographs.

He said investigators were trying to establish the identity of the two soldiers known as Soldier A and Soldier B who told the Mirror they had witnessed beatings by troops from the Queen's Lancashire Regiment.

Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan said in a statement that the government had "still not produced incontrovertible evidence that the pictures are faked".