Fresh charges of prisoner abuse hit UK troops

2.45pm

LONDON - British troops faced fresh accusations on Saturday that they abused prisoners in Iraq, with one detainee saying he was viciously beaten by laughing soldiers.

Separately, a newspaper said a fourth British soldier, attached to a regiment already under a cloud, had came forward with charges of ill-treatment, potentially drawing Washinghton's closest ally deeper into an abuse scandal that has rocked the United States.

In a witness statement obtained by the Independent newspaper, Iraqi engineer Kifah Talah said he suffered renal failure after he was beaten by British soldiers over three days in September 2003.

His statement will be presented to the High Court in London next week as part of a compensation claim against Britain by the families of Iraqis who say their relatives were unlawfully killed by British troops.

"The soldiers would surround us and compete as to who could kick-box us the furthest," Talah said in the statement quoted in Saturday's Independent. "The idea was to try and make us crash into the wall. "The soldiers appeared to be thoroughly enjoying themselves as the beating was accompanied by loud laughter," Talah said.

One of the men arrested with him, hotel receptionist Baha Mousa, died of his injuries, Talah said. His evidence has been corroborated by Mousa's father Daoud Mousa, who says his son was tortured to death.

Mousa's case is also part of next week's High Court action.

Charges of abuse by British soldiers have made headlines since last week, when the Daily Mirror printed pictures apparently showing a soldier urinating on a hooded prisoner and beating him with a rifle butt.

The authenticity of those pictures has been questioned.

The Mirror, which opposed the war in Iraq, on Saturday printed a new picture on its front page showing a British soldier taking what it called a "trophy photograph" of an Iraqi man with bloodied teeth in the back of a military vehicle.

The picture came from another soldier who said he took the photo late last year after witnessing the man being beaten in Basra, where most British soldiers deployed in Iraq are based.

The soldier, who according to the Mirror is still serving in the military, was too frightened to go to the military police.

A Ministry of Defence (MOD) spokesman said if soldiers witnessed mistreatment they should tell the authorities.

"If individuals have allegations or evidence of mistreatment of prisoners then they should be brought to the proper authorities, the Royal Military Police," the spokesman said.

The MOD is investigating allegations by another British soldier who has said he saw his comrades beating four Iraqi prisoners.

The fresh allegations came as US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld offered his "deepest apology" to the victims of abuse in Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq