Officer not punished over Iraqi crackdown order
21/01/2005 - 11:47:36The British Army officer who gave an “unlawful” order to his soldiers to come down hard on Iraqis caught looting was not charged with any offence, a court martial heard today.
The order by Major Dan Taylor breached the Geneva Convention and the crackdown which followed at an aid camp near Basra led to three soldiers being charged with abusing civilians.
But Maj Taylor was only dealt with at “summary level”, which means he was spoken to by senior officers – a process known in Army slang as “interview without coffee”.
The officers concluded that he was guilty no more than “misguided zeal”, the court heard today.
Details of what happened to Maj Taylor in the aftermath of what he called Operation Ali Baba emerged today as he was giving evidence at the court martial in Osnabruck.
Three soldiers from the 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers are accused of abusing and assaulting Iraqi civilian prisoners at Camp Bread Basket, near Basra.
Lance Corporal Mark Cooley, 25, and Corporal Daniel Kenyon, 33, both from Newcastle upon Tyne in England, both deny the charges.
Lance Corporal Darren Larkin, 30, from Oldham, Greater Manchester, has admitted one charge of assaulting an unknown male at the camp, but denies another charge of forcing two Iraqi males to undress in front of others.
Photographs taken of the alleged abuse include images of naked Iraqi prisoners simulating sex acts, British soldiers pretending to punch and kick bound men and a prisoner – grimacing with fear – tied to the raised forks of a forklift truck.
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