‘Torture photographs may put lives of British troops at risk’

THE lives of British troops in Iraq may have been put at risk by the publication of photographs apparently showing British soldiers torturing and abusing an Iraqi prisoner, the British government warned last night.

Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram said the military authorities would leave “no stone unturned” in their efforts to establish the truth behind the pictures published in the Daily Mirror on Friday.

In a Commons statement, Mr Ingram called on the Mirror to co-operate fully with the inquiry into the abuse allegations being carried out by the Royal Military Police Special Investigation Branch (SIB).

He said the claims were already undermining the work of troops trying to restore stability in Iraq.

“There is always a question of lives being put at risk because of what may prove to be unfounded allegations, so it is on the conscience of those who run it in this way,” he said.

While he said the Ministry of Defence had taken the photographs at face value, he confirmed the SIB was examining their authenticity.

In its editorial yesterday, the Mirror said it had “no doubt” the photographs were genuine and that the story they revealed was “as real as it is horrifying”.

However, former members of the regiment and some other newspapers have said the pictures appeared to be staged and some of the equipment carried by the troops in the photographs was not used in Iraq.

Mr Ingram urged the Mirror to pass on the names of the two soldiers from The Queen’s Lancashire Regiment who made the allegations so their claims could be investigated.

Two serving troopers told the Mirror how a suspected thief was beaten and urinated on in the back of a truck as part of an eight-hour long session of abuse.

One said he had taken part in the beating last year.

The girlfriend of another serving QLR soldier told the Mirror: “It’s all true.” The Cyprus-based woman, who did not want to be named, said: “I was with my boyfriend. He said all the allegations of beatings are true.

“Most of the lads knew what happened, but it’s been kept quiet until now.”

The Mirror said their sources, whose identity they have promised to protect under journalistic ethics, are standing by their claims.

One has said: “We know we could get nicked for coming forward. But this is important. There are rogue people who are out of control.”

Amnesty International said it had received frequent reports of torture by coalition forces over the past year. Detainees had reported being routinely subjected to cruel and degrading treatment. Methods allegedly included beatings, prolonged restraint, hooding and sleep deprivation. Yet, said Amnesty, none had been fully investigated.

A spokesman for the human rights organisation said: “Iraq has lived under the shadow of torture for far too long.

“The coalition leadership must send a clear signal that torture will not be tolerated under any circumstances and that the Iraqi people can now live free of such brutal and degrading treatment.” The British Army has already promised a full inquiry. But other military investigations have proved long and drawn out with few conclusive results.

The pictures showed a hooded Iraqi captive being beaten by British soldiers before being thrown from a moving truck.

Another picture showed a soldier urinating on an Iraqi prisoner.

Another showed a suspect cowering as a gun was forced into his mouth.