Britain yields to demands for Iraq war crimes probe

The British Ministry of Defence conceded there were grounds for an inquiry into the deaths of up to 20 Iraqis whose relatives say they were tortured and killed by British troops in 2004.

In a submission to the High Court delivered by government lawyers, Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth said he “profoundly regretted” a failure to make documents in the case available to the court and conceded a public inquiry should be held.

Clive Lewis, a lawyer for the government, said Ainsworth was proposing “an investigation of the murder of Iraqi detainees at Camp Abu Naji in southern Iraq on the night of May 14-15, 2004, and specific allegations by five Iraq nationals of ill-treatment.”