Saturday, November 14, 2009

MoD probes new Iraq abuse claims

The Ministry of Defence has said it is investigating new allegations of abuse by the UK military in Iraq.

Lawyers acting for former Iraqi detainees are calling for a full public inquiry into 33 abuse claims made during UK military involvement there.

One allegation is that two soldiers raped a 16-year-old boy in 2003.

Armed forces minister Bill Rammell said such claims were taken seriously but formal inquiries must be held "without judgements being made prematurely".

"Allegations of this nature are taken very seriously. However allegations must not be taken as fact," he said.

Mr Rammell told the BBC "about seven of them have come in within the last month".

"The rest of them are cases that date back significantly beyond that period and they are being investigated. Any allegation of abuse is taken with the utmost seriousness."READ MORE

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