Mirror says sorry for fake pictures

The Daily Mirror today printed a front page apology to British soldiers, declaring, “Sorry .. We Were Hoaxed.”

The headline appeared surrounded by a black border above a Voice of the Daily Mirror editorial which said: “Iraqi PoW abuse pictures handed to us were fake”.

The original front page claiming soldiers had been caught on camera beating a detainee was inset.

“It is now clear that the photographs the Mirror published of British soldiers abusing an Iraqi prisoner were fakes,” the paper said.

“The evidence against them is not strong enough to convict in a court but that is not the burden of proof the Daily Mirror demands of itself.”

The paper continued: “So to you [readers] today we apologise for publishing pictures which we now believe were not genuine.

“We also say sorry to the Queen’s Lancashire Regiment and our Army in Iraq for publishing these pictures.

“The Daily Mirror printed the photographs in good faith. We absolutely believed they were what we were told they were, otherwise we would never have printed them.”