The British Ministry of Defense said on Tuesday that at least
one British soldier had been arrested in connection with faked
Iraqi prisoner torture pictures that were published by the British
Daily Mirror newspaper.
According to the ministry, the soldier was being questioned by
the Special Investigations Branch of the military.
The arrests were a routine part of the British military's
investigation into the alleged abuses by British troops of Iraqi
prisoners, and no charges were immediately filed, the ministry said
in a statement.
The British government announced last Thursday that pictures
published by the Daily Mirror that showed a hooded man being
struck with a rifle butt, urinated on and having a gun held to his
head, apparently by British soldiers, were "categorically not taken
in Iraq."
Following the announcement, the tabloid apologized last Friday
over publication of "fake" photos and Piers Morgan, its editor who
staunchly defended the photos, stepped down on the same day.
On May 1, The Daily Mirror published the pictures from
British soldiers, days after images of US troops torturing and
abusing Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad were
revealed.
(Xinhua News Agency May 19, 2004)