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'IRAQ PRISONER ABUSE PICTURES ARE FAKES' Wed May 12 2004 20:16:59 ET The British Government is expected to say Thursday that newspaper pictures of British troops allegedly abusing Iraqi prisoners are fake, according to sources at the Ministry of Defence. Armed forces minister Adam Ingram is likely to use an appearance in the House of Commons to reveal that an investigation into the Daily Mirror photographs has concluded they are not genuine. The Mirror has published a string of photographs apparently showing British troops mistreating Iraqi prisoners. But a Royal Military Police probe into the veracity of the pictures is understood to have concluded that they are false. That will lead to renewed calls for Mirror editor Piers Morgan to resign. One of the photographs appears to show a soldier from the Queen's Lancashire Regiment urinating on a prisoner while another allegedly shows the captive being struck in the groin with a rifle butt. The authenticity of the photographs was questioned soon after their publication in the newspaper around two weeks ago. It was claimed the soldiers' uniforms were too clean and Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon this week said a lorry seen in the pictures was not even in Iraq at the time. He said the pictures appeared "increasingly like a hoax". There were also claims that the photographs were faked at a UK Territorial Army barracks in Preston. Prime Minister Tony Blair today went further than Mr Hoon, telling MPs that the photographs were "almost certainly fake". Sources at the MoD last night said the investigation's finding would be highly unlikely to dissent from ministers' comments. But cynics will question the timing of the announcement if it does come today. Mr Ingram had been expected to apologise to MPs for inadvertently misleading them when he denied having seen Amnesty International reports detailing alleged abuse. Developing... |
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