PIC THAT PROVES QLR TOOK PHOTOS OF BEATEN IRAQIS

By Jan Disley, The Mirror, 8 May, 2004

A SOLDIER has produced damning proof that British troopers took "trophy" photos of Iraqi prisoners being abused.

Soldier D photographed a colleague in the Queen's Lancashire Regiment snapping a bound captive with bloodied teeth in the back of an armoured personnel carrier.


Soldier with camera, top right, takes photograph of beaten Iraqi suspect

The squaddie told the Mirror: "There are no rules out there. I saw the man dragged into the vehicle beaten up, kicked and punched. It lasted about a minute.

"I took the picture as I opened the doors of the vehicle and could see dirt on his shirt and blood on his teeth."

Claiming that soldiers took photos and video footage to look tough and prove to friends what had happened, he added: "You'd come back from Iraq and people wouldn't know what you've been through.

"If you had pictures you could show them. While we were out there we were told to get rid of all of them. But if they'd done a proper search they'd have found CDs and all sorts of things.

"There was one CD going round our room with about 500 shots on it. Some were before and after pictures of beatings."

Three other soldiers have told the Mirror of torture by rogue members of the QLR. One, Soldier C, is giving Military Police full details, including names and ranks.

Soldier D, who is still serving in the QLR but is too frightened to be named or go to Military Police, photographed the battered prisoner while serving in Basra in the second half of last year.
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- posted by ARYABHATT @ 1:16 am