UK troops face court martial over Iraq death

LONDON - Seven soldiers are to face a court martial for the murder of an Iraqi civilian in May 2003, Britain's Attorney General said on Thursday, in the latest serious allegation to be levelled against UK troops.

The men, who served with the 3rd Battalion the Parachute Regiment, also face charges of violent disorder following a roadside incident in southern Iraq which led to the death of the civilian, Nadhem Abdullah.

The murder accusation is a new blow to the army's reputation, with another court martial already probing whether British soldiers abused Iraqi detainees.

In a written statement to parliament, Attorney General Lord Goldsmith named three of the men suspected of the murder as Corporal Scott Evans, Private William Nerney and Daniel Harding, who has now left the army. No date has been set for the trial.

The Defence Ministry said it had no comment on the decision to bring charges.

Britain, Washington's key ally in Iraq, has launched more than 130 investigations into deaths and injuries of Iraqis since joining the US-led invasion. The incidents range from combat fatalities to road accidents and deaths of Iraqis in custody.

Last September, Kevin Williams, the first British soldier to be charged with murdering an Iraqi civilian, appeared at a London court. Criminal charges were brought after his commanding officer dismissed court martial proceedings.

In a separate development on Thursday, British army prosecutors trying three UK soldiers accused of abusing and sexually humiliating Iraqi detainees dropped one of the charges against them because of a lack of evidence.

A spokesman for the court martial being held at a British Army base in Osnabrueck, northern Germany, said Lance Corporal Darren Larkin no longer faced a charge of forcing two detainees to strip naked.

Larkin has already admitted a separate charge of assaulting a detainee

A charge against Corporal Daniel Kenyon of helping Larkin to force the men to strip has also been dropped but Kenyon and the third soldier, Lance Corporal Mark Cooley, still face several other abuse charges, which they deny.

The three soldiers were alleged to have participated in an incident on 15 May, 2003 in which several looters were detained at a supply depot for humanitarian food stores near the southern city of Basra.

The camp commander had ordered the soldiers to "work them hard" in a bid to deter further pillaging.

But a group of soldiers are alleged to have mistreated four detainees in a warehouse by abusing them in various ways, including forcing them to strip naked and photographing them performing simulated sexual acts.

Pictures of laughing soldiers together with naked and grimacing detainees caused worldwide outrage when they were released at the start of the court martial last month.

The case echoed the scandal involving US soldiers at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, which severely damaged Washington's image in the Arab world and elsewhere.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, whose approval ratings plummeted over the Iraq war, has condemned allegations of abuse by British soldiers. He is due to seek a third term at an election expected in May.

- REUTERS