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Scots Troops' Anger Over Iraqi Beating Footage

Posted on: Monday, 13 February 2006, 06:00 CST

By Cara Page

SCOTS soldiers in Basra were "disgusted" last night over a sickening video said to show British troops battering terrified Iraqi teenagers.

An Army spokesman in the city said the squaddies were as angry as local people about the mobile phone footage.

And he admitted that the sadistic abuse shown could spark a backlash against British troops.

The video, shot in 2004, apparently shows eight soldiers laying into four helpless young Iraqis with batons, boots and fists.

Reports say a corporal used a camera phone to shoot the film for amusement.

As the beating continues and the victims beg for mercy, the cameraman is heard laughing and egging on the attackers.

He says: "Oh yes! Oh Yes! You're gonna get it. Yes, naughty little boys. You little f***ers, you little f***ers. Die. Ha ha."

The Army confirmed that no Scots units were involved in the incident. But troops from the Royal Scots, Highlanders and Royal Scots Dragoon Guards are currently serving in Basra and will bear the brunt of any angry local reaction.

Army spokesman Captain Sullivan Scott told of the Scots squaddies' fury over the video.

Speaking from Basra, he said: "I think anyone would be pretty disgusted by what we've seen.

"It's not very helpful when we are doing a lot to try to get Iraq back on its feet and give the people a reasonably safe and secure future."

Captain Scott admitted the video "has a potential to raise tensions" in the city.

He added: "The locals condemn it as much as we condemn it but it hasn't set off a reaction yet.

"They are aware it doesn't appear to be troops who are out here at the moment, and they know there is a proper investigation going on.

"We hope to mitigate the damage through engagement with local Iraqi leaders, and with Iraqi people we work with day to day, "

The video was broadcast repeatedly in the Arab world yesterday. AlJazeera TV compared the apparent conduct of the British troops to the American abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib jail in Baghdad in 2003.

Rebel factions in Basra were quick to try to capitalise on the scandal. A spokesman for radical Shia Muslim leader Muqtada al-Sadr said: "This is good proof of the violations of human rights being committed by British troops."

The video was allegedly filmed during riots in southern Iraq in early 2004, when tensions between the British and some locals were high.

Soldiers are shown chasing a group of stone-throwing rioters, then returning to their walled compound with four young captives held in headlocks.

Three of the Iraqis are barefoot. All are dwarfed by the burly soldiers.

The video shows a minute of the frenzied attack on the prisoners. Punches, kicks, baton blows and an apparent headbutt are seen.

A total of 42 vicious blows are shown, and the footage ends with a soldier kicking one of the teenagers hard in the genitals as the victim lies helpless on the ground.

Two other disturbing incidents were included in the video footage. One clip seems to show a British soldier kicking a dead Iraqi twice in the face. Another apparently shows a captive Iraqi being kicked in the chest.

The video was allegedly handed to a Sunday newspaper by a "whistleblower". The paper refused to name the Army unit involved.

Military police were "urgently" investigating the footage last night. An Army spokesman for Scotland said: "There were Scottish battalions in Iraq at the time but no Scottish battal-ions were involved in this incident."

An MoD source added: "This was an historical incident. We hope it was dealt with at the time."

Quizzed about the video, Tony Blair said: "We take seriously any allegations of mistreatment, and they will be investigated very fully indeed."

But he added that the vast majority of British soldiers did "a great job for our country and the wider world".

Blair said the task of supporting democracy in Iraq was fundamentally important to UK and international security. And he insisted that the troops "deserve our fullest support".

Chancellor Gordon Brown said that if the tape was genuine, soldiers shown beating the prisoners would be found and put on trial.

However, he stressed that 80,000 British troops had seen service in Iraq since 2003, and only a tiny minority had ever carried out such abuse.

Shadow foreign secretary Liam Fox said: "The actions of a tiny minority must not be allowed to taint the reputation of the armed forces, who have done a magnificent job in Iraq in very difficult circumstances."

Lib Dem defence spokesman Michael Moore said: "Parliament must be told if this is a one-off, as hoped, or evidence of wider abuses."

RECORD VIEW: Page 8

Source: Daily Record; Glasgow (UK)

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