DOUBTS arose today over the authenticity of photos apparently showing British troops abusing an Iraqi detainee, after military sources quoted by the BBC said many aspects of the pictures were suspicious.
The British military has launched an investigation into photographs published yesterday in Britain's mass-circulation Daily Mirror newspaper appearing to show troops beating and urinating on an Iraqi prisoner in a camp near Basra in British-controlled southern Iraq.
However, Britain's national broadcaster said unnamed sources close to the Queen's Lancashire Regiment, from whose soldiers the Mirror said it had obtained the photos, believed several aspects of the pictures are suspicious.
The rifle appears to be an SA80 mk 1, which was not issued to soldiers in Iraq. Troops wear berets or hard hats, not the floppy hats as seen in the pictures. The truck in the photo also appears to be a type never used in Iraq.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair yesterday condemned the photos - if genuine - as "completely and utterly unacceptable".
Of course, this refers to the British photos only. There is NO QUESTION WHATSOEVER that the American photos are authentic, and there are several more photos that have been seized from U.S. soldiers coming to light as of today.
