Two Territorial Army soldiers turn up at the Mirror newspaper with details of abuse of prisoners in Iraq. When told there was insufficient evidence they go away and turn up 2 days later with photos that they failed to mention at the 1st meeting. "Thank you very much - here's your £20 grand!"


BBC NEWS
Mirror photos 'not taken in Iraq'

Photos which appeared in the Daily Mirror apparently showing abuse of Iraqi detainees were "categorically not taken in Iraq", Adam Ingram told MPs.

The defence minister said the truck in the photos had never been in Iraq.

But the Daily Mirror said Mr Ingram had "not produced incontrovertible evidence that the pictures are faked".

In a statement, the paper said "the pictures accurately illustrated the reality about the appalling conduct of some British troops".

Mr Ingram refused to say any more about the inquiry into the photos by the Royal Military Police because criminal offences may have been committed.

He said he was disturbed that troops were being vilified before facts were established.

He also called on Mirror editor Piers Morgan "to assist fully in this inquiry".

Mr Ingram said he made that direct appeal to the Mirror after the paper had demanded the MoD and the Army adopt standards of "honesty, openness and professionalism".

"I challenge the Daily Mirror to do the same," he said.

But the Mirror claimed the photos were "just one piece of evidence about one incident" and it made "no apology" for highlighting "a much bigger issue".

However, the minister said the publication of the photos had impacted on the morale and safety of British armed forces.

He said troops had been injured by a petrol bomb thrown by children in Iraq, had been attacked by militiamen and a patrol suffered a grenade attack in Basra.

Those who were involved with the production of those photographs and those who have published them did a great wrong
Keith Simpson

He said these were three examples of the courage shown by armed forces in the conduct of their duties.

The Military Police's special investigations branch has been investigating the Mirror photos of alleged abuse by soldiers in the Queen's Lancashire Regiment (QLR).

The pictures appeared to show troops urinating on a prisoner and striking him with a rifle.

Mr Ingram told MPs the "very high name of the QLR has been dragged through the mud by the Mirror" and he understood the anger of members of the regiment and their families.

"Those pictures were categorically not taken in Iraq," he said.

"I can also tell the House this is not only the opinion of the special investigations' branch investigators - it has been independently corroborated.

"The truck in which the photos were taken was never in Iraq.

"Those involved may have committed criminal offences under military law which are the proper subject of on-going investigations by the RMP."


Tory defence spokesman Keith Simpson said: "Those who connived with the production of those photographs and those who have published them did a great wrong."

He said the "good name and possibly the lives" of British troops "have been traded for what now appear to be cheap news headlines".

He looked to the Daily Mirror board to take "appropriate action", he said.

Labour's David Borrow, MP for the Lancashire constituency of South Ribble, called for the Mirror to publish a front page apology to the QLR.

"It's an absolute disgrace that the Daily Mirror, in order to further its own political line and to damage the prime minister, has been prepared to besmirch the name of the Queens Lancashire Regiment," he said.

Mr Ingram also defended his earlier claim that he had not received the International Committee of the Red Cross report detailing alleged abuse by British troops of Iraqi prisoners.

To Tory jeers, he said: "That does not mean to say I was unaware of the issues and the actions being taken."

He reiterated his claim that he had not seen adverse reports relating to British treatment of Iraqis, even though Amnesty International claimed to have sent him details months before.

Mr Ingram said Amnesty had sent him only a one-page letter which did not amount to a report.

Colin Breed, for the Lib Dems, said: "Why were these reports, which were of obvious political significance, not shown to ministers and not reported to this House?"


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/h...cs/3709289.stm

I always had my doubts that the fine folk of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment would do such things. They are a good lot them northerners ;)

I hope the daily mirror does the right thing and does a grovelling apology on the front page for two days and buys advertisement space in all other media as well. A personally signed letter of apology from the editor to each member of the regiment would also go some way in addressing the wrong. Somehow I don’t think they will have the balls to do that.

Whilst I would love to see a grovelling apology by Piers Morgan (he is a prat really, and publishing them was bloody irresponsible), I think it's too early yet to celebrate.

The reason the government took so long to hammer the mirror over it was because they think they were reconstructions and therefore I wouldn't be suprised to see the results of these independent investigations bearing out a similar story.

Still, our conduct does look much better than it looked a week ago. It now looks like the army and DoD carried out all the recommendations in the red cross report when they first received it (for example they stopped using hoods) and it wasn't passed up to Ministers because it had all been taken care off. Investigations into the specific allegations in the report are nearing conclusion now because they were started back then, and really the red cross report doesn't mention many specific examples of British abuses, it mostly focuses on specific American ones.

But only time will tell I suppose

[ 05-13-2004, 06:39 PM: Message edited by: shamrock_uk ]

I think that every member of this unit, past and present, should file suit against this paper for defamation.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3716151.stm

He's been sacked! "The Daily Mirror... apologises unreservedly for publishing the pictures and deeply regrets the reputational damage done to the QLR and the Army in Iraq"

that doesnt even BEGIN to make up for the damage they caused. how are they ever going to get back the american and brittish lives lost because of increased assaults on allied peace efforts due to fake pictures?

i think their whole industry should be shut down, especially since they were informed BEFORE the pictures were even printed that they were fake. even if they only caused one death by their actions, i would want their station burned to the ground.

So, if I follow this to the questionable end, where exactly did these 'prisoner beatings" transpire? If the said truck was not in Iraq, then where did it happen?

It happened in a Territorial Army Barracks in Preston, Lancashire.

And promethius, I completely agree with you...burnings all the way. Welcome back by the way [img]smile.gif[/img]

thanks shamrock, i left college a little over a week ago and took my sweet time leaving the states for summer in germany... no internet connection for students on the road eh?

Wheather these photos are fake or real the damage has been done. The British army has lost a large chunk of it's reputation and has left the Iraqi people angry and bitter.

[ 05-15-2004, 12:08 PM: Message edited by: General Nosaj ]