Britain rocked by pictures of apparent Iraq abuse (Agencies) Updated: 2005-01-19 14:52
Britain's newspapers published pictures on Wednesday of Iraqis apparently
being abused by British soldiers under "Shame" and "Shock" headlines, in echoes
of the Abu Ghraib scandal as a court martial rocked the country.
Some of the front-page pictures showed naked Iraqi prisoners appearing to be
forced to simulate anal and other sexual acts, while in another a soldier had
his fist raised above a bound detainee who had a net over his torso.
![An undated handout photograph, issued on January 18, 2005, that is to be used as evidence in a court martial in Osnabrueck, Germany purports to show Lance Corporal Mark Cooley simulating a punch to an Iraqi detainee. [Reuters]](xin_0801021914561982809516.jpg) An undated handout photograph, issued on
January 18, 2005, that is to be used as evidence in a court martial in
Osnabrueck, Germany purports to show Lance Corporal Mark Cooley simulating
a punch to an Iraqi detainee. Three British soldiers pleaded not guilty at
a court martial on Tuesday to abusing and sexually humiliating Iraqi
civilians in May 2003, although one admitted he had beaten a detained
man. Lance corporals Darren Larkin and Mark Cooley and Corporal
Daniel Kenyon, all from the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, face charges of
mistreating Iraqis during an operation to stop looting in the chaotic
weeks after the invasion of Iraq.
[Reuters] | "They are pictures
to make us sick with shame," said the top-selling Sun tabloid, as newspapers and
opposition politicians warned of long-term damage to the image of Britain's
military hours after the court martial of three soldiers began.
The Times said the pictures would "provoke outrage in the Arab world and
sully the reputation of the British Army."
Some newspapers said Prime Minister Tony Blair, President Bush's closest ally
on Iraq, could be hit politically as he prepares to call a general election,
widely expected in May.
The emergence of the pictures prompted Britain's most senior general, Sir
Mike Jackson, to make a rare public statement in which he said: "We condemn
utterly all acts of abuse. Where there is evidence of abuse, this is immediately
investigated."
The
pictures, released by prosecutors at the court martial at a British military
base in Germany on Tuesday, were discovered when laboratory technicians phoned
police after a soldier took them to be developed.
![An undated handout photograph, issued on January 18, 2005, that is to be used as evidence in a court martial in Osnabrueck, Germany, purports to show Iraqi detainees simulating sexual acts. Three British soldiers pleaded not guilty at a court martial on Tuesday to abusing and sexually humiliating Iraqi civilians in May 2003, although one admitted he had beaten a detained man. Lance corporals Darren Larkin and Mark Cooley and Corporal Daniel Kenyon, all from the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, face charges of mistreating Iraqis during an operation to stop looting in the chaotic weeks after the invasion of Iraq. [Reuters]](xin_4701021914539802388815.jpg) An undated handout photograph, issued on
January 18, 2005, that is to be used as evidence in a court martial in
Osnabrueck, Germany, purports to show Iraqi detainees simulating sexual
acts. [Reuters] | The three British soldiers pleaded not guilty to numerous counts of abuse,
although one admitted assaulting a man.
Taken just weeks after the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq toppled
Saddam Hussein, one of the 22 pictures showed an Iraqi man trussed up in a net
and suspended from the prongs of a fork-lift truck.
Another showed a soldier apparently simulating a kick on a bound Iraqi lying
in a patch of water.
Prosecutors say the soldiers carried out offences during an operation
codenamed "Ali Baba" to stop looting at an aid food depot in the chaotic weeks
after the U.S.-led invasion.
The trial is the latest in a series of hearings against U.S. and British
soldiers after photographs of abuse by U.S. troops at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib jail
emerged last year, sparking worldwide outrage.
Unlike the Abu Ghraib scandal, the trial of the three British soldiers has
not sparked allegations of systematic abuse.
But Sir Menzies Campbell, a spokesman for Britain's second largest opposition
party, the Liberal Democrats, told Channel Four television: "These pictures will
inevitably open all wounds and be part of drawing parallels with Abu Ghraib."
The Financial Times said the case had political risks for Blair's Labour
government, which has had to contend with disquiet in its own ranks and among
voters over its decision to back Bush over Iraq.
"The allegations threaten to re-ignite the controversy over Iraq, potentially
antagonising some core Labour voters less than four months before an expected
election," said the newspaper.
Some newspapers said the case could put Britain's 9,000 troops in southern
Iraq at risk by fueling anger as the country prepares to hold elections on Jan.
30.
The mainly Shi'ite south has been more peaceful than central areas but
guerrillas from the Sunni Arab minority and foreign Islamic militants have been
stepping up bombings and assassinations to sabotage the
ballot.
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