LONDON (Agence France-Presse) — Doubts arose yesterday over the authenticity of photos apparently showing British troops abusing an Iraqi detainee, after military sources quoted by the British Broadcasting Corp. said many aspects of the pictures were suspicious.
The British military launched an investigation into photographs published Saturday in Britain’s Daily Mirror newspaper appearing to show troops beating and urinating on an Iraqi prisoner in a camp near Basra in British-controlled southern Iraq.
However, the BBC said unnamed sources close to the Queen’s Lancashire Regiment, from whose soldiers the Daily Mirror said it had obtained the photos, believed several aspects of the pictures are suspicious.
The rifle appears to be an SA80 Mark 1, which was not issued to soldiers in Iraq. Troops wear berets or helmets, not the floppy hats as seen in the pictures. The truck in the photo also appears to be a type never used in Iraq.
Prime Minister Tony Blair on Saturday condemned the photos, if genuine, as “completely and utterly unacceptable.”
The Daily Mirror, an opponent of the Iraq war, said that the prisoner, aged between 18 and 20, was savagely beaten before being thrown from a moving truck.
Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan said yesterday he stood by the story and hinted at more revelations after “sensational interviews” with the soldiers.
“They stand fully behind every word of their story, rebutting every question raised, and they also stand by the complete veracity of the photographs,” he said. “They also make a number of serious new allegations of improper conduct by British troops.”
Meanwhile yesterday, other claims emerged of British troops mistreating Iraqi detainees.
Britain’s independent ITV channel, on its program “GMTV,” presented an account of an anonymous officer serving in the British army saying that abuse of Iraqi prisoners “was definitely heard of.”
Fellow officers were “hugely annoyed and upset about it,” he said.
He added, “People were literally getting serious, serious beating or kickings when they were plasticuffed — you’re talking broken ribs, punctured lungs.”
The publication of the Daily Mirror’s photographs came after pictures broadcast throughout the world showed U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners, drawing condemnation from international leaders.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw appeared to leave the door open to possible compensation for any victims, though he stressed it was too early to judge the outcome of an inquiry under way.
“Of course it follows that we will accept whatever obligations there are upon us,” he told the BBC.
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