[A-List] British 'Humanitarian' Beats Iraqi Prisoner To Death

[Rick Rozoff <r_rozoff@xxxxxxxxx>]

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/02/11/1076388406408.html


The Age (Australia)
February 11, 2004

Claims Iraqi POW beaten to death by Brit


-A second PoW was severely beaten and suffered kidney
failure, a third suffered serious internal injuries
and the other six all lodged complaints about their
treatment....


An investigation was launched following claims that an
Iraqi prisoner of war was beaten to death by a British
soldier, the Ministry of Defence said tonight.

The victim suffered at least 50 injuries, according to
a report in The Sun.

A Ministry of Defence spokeswoman confirmed it was
making inquiries after a PoW died while in the custody
of British forces but described reports that a British
soldier would be charged with manslaughter as "pure
speculation".

She declined to give any details about the alleged
injuries suffered by the man, reportedly named Mr
Al-Maliki.

The victim was allegedly captured by troops from the
Queen's Lancashire Regiment who swooped on pro-Saddam
bandits near the British-held city of Basra last
September.

He was among nine others taken to an army base in the
city, according to The Sun.

One later died and was said to have a huge number of
internal and external injuries, said the paper.

A second PoW was severely beaten and suffered kidney
failure, a third suffered serious internal injuries
and the other six all lodged complaints about their
treatment, the paper said.

The MoD confirmed the Royal Military Police Special
Investigations Branch, which handles the most
sensitive cases, was conducting the inquiry into how
the Iraqi died.

The Queen's Lancashire Regiment is in Iraq on
peacekeeping duties.

A month before the Iraqi died they had lost one of
their number after coming under attack.

Captain Dai Jones, 29, of 1st Battalion, QLR was
killed on August 14 in a bomb attack on a military
ambulance in Basra.

Married Captain Jones, from Louth in Lincolnshire, had
been working on civil-military cooperation projects to
reconstruct the city.

The spokeswoman for the Ministry of Defence said: "I
can confirm an Iraqi prisoner of war has died while in
the custody of UK forces.

"A Royal Military Police Special Investigations Branch
investigation into the death of Mr Al-Maliki is
ongoing and it would be inappropriate to speculate
about its outcome.

"The investigation is a thorough one, involving
interviews in Britain and Iraq and this inevitably
will take time.

"If British soldiers are found to have acted
unlawfully, appropriate action will be taken.

"Any suggestion soldiers will be charged with
manslaughter is pure speculation at this stage."

- PA






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