Iraq Red Cap murder charges dropped

Charges against two Iraqis accused of the murders of six British military policemen more than seven years ago have been dropped by a judge in Baghdad, it has emerged.

The Red Caps were killed when a mob of about 400 people attacked a police station in Majar al-Kabir, southern Iraq, in June 2003.

Hamza Hateer and Mussa Ismael al Fartusi were due to stand trial at the central criminal court in Baghdad but the case was dropped at a hearing.

The press agency reported that Chief Justice Baleagh Hamdi Hikmat dropped the charges saying there was not enough evidence to prosecute.

The judge adjourned a hearing last month to give witnesses time to travel but no eyewitnesses were brought into court.

The three-judge panel questioned nine people - mostly Iraqi police - but none said they saw the killings of the Royal Military Police officers near Basra.

One of those questioned said he saw one defendant taking the weapon of a dead soldier.

The court said it will pursue charges on the theft but the murder charge was dropped.

The Red Caps had been training local Iraqi officers when the police station came under attack on June 24, 2003.

The victims were Sergeant Simon Hamilton-Jewell, 41, from Chessington, Surrey; Corporal Russell Aston, 30, from Swadlincote, Derbyshire; Corporal Paul Long, 24, of South Shields, Tyne and Wear; Lance Corporal Tom Keys, 20, from Bala, North Wales; Corporal Simon Miller, 21, from Washington, Tyne and Wear; and Lance Corporal Benjamin Hyde, 23, from Northallerton, North Yorkshire.