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 Support The DrudgeReport; Visit Our Advertisers  TROOPS 'SWAPPED HUNDREDS OF ABUSE PICTURES' Sun May 02 2004 19:49:47 ET Hundreds of photographs have been taken of British servicemen mistreating Iraqi civilians, it was claimed tonight. Troops serving in southern Iraq have been swapping the pictures among themselves, said the unnamed soldiers from the Queen's Lancashire Regiment who sparked furore over the weekend by releasing photos apparently showing UK personnel abusing an Iraqi prisoner. The potentially explosive claims, if proven, would contradict Prime Minister Tony Blair's assurance that any misconduct in British ranks was "exceptional" and limited to a handful of servicemen. Doubts were cast today on the authenticity of the photos, published in the Daily Mirror yesterday, which appeared to show the hooded man being struck with a rifle butt, urinated on and having a gun held to his head. Sources close to the regiment claimed the rifle, hats and truck seen in the pictures did not match those issued to men in Iraq, and queried why there was no sign of sweat, dirt or injuries on the body of the victim of the alleged assault. But tonight the soldiers who made the pictures public told the Mirror: "We stand by every single word of our story. "This happened, it is not a hoax and the Army knows a lot more has happened." The Royal Military Police is carrying out an urgent inquiry into claims that the man was subjected to an eight-hour ordeal after being picked up in Iraq for suspected theft last year. It was claimed that he had his jaw broken and teeth smashed before being dumped from a moving vehicle. In tomorrow's edition of the Mirror, the soldiers detail other alleged incidents of brutality towards local people, including a baton attack which left a prisoner with a compound fracture to his arm. Speaking on condition of anonymity, one of the soldiers said: "Maybe the officers don't know what is going on - but everybody else does. I have seen literally hundreds of pictures." Many of the pictures were destroyed last September when the soldiers' luggage was searched as they left Iraq, they said. A Ministry of Defence spokesman said the authorities were not aware of other photos of prisoners being mistreated or of a culture of trading pictures. "If people have got evidence of such activity, then they should bring it to the attention of the Army authorities. We won't stand for activity like that," he said. END |
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