Britain's Daily Mirror apologises for hoax pictures

By JEREMY LOVELL

LONDON - The Daily Mirror has issued a front-page apology for publishing hoax pictures of British troops supposedly abusing Iraqi prisoners.

The paper's editor, Piers Morgan, was sacked yesterday over the affair.

The paper issued a front page apology "Sorry...We were hoaxed" after the government branded the pictures fake and the regiment allegedly involved called for the editor to be fired.

The sacking of the flamboyant Morgan brings to three the number of media executives who have been forced out over coverage of Iraq.

BBC chairman Gavyn Davies and director general Greg Dyke quit in January after an inquiry criticised the organisation -- an international benchmark for journalistic accuracy -- for a report claiming the government hyped the case for war.

The Mirror was a harsh critic of Prime Minister Tony Blair's decision to go to war. Blair's personal ratings have sunk since the U.S-led invasion 15 months ago.

Despite mounting expert criticism of the pictures, and the government statement on Thursday that they were fake, Morgan insisted his stories of abuse by British troops were accurate.

But on Friday, the newspaper's owners Trinity Mirror threw in the towel and threw out their editor.

"There is now sufficient evidence to suggest that these pictures are fakes and that the Daily Mirror has been the subject of a calculated and malicious hoax," a statement said.

The Daily Mirror apologised for publishing the pictures and regretted damage to the reputation of the Queens Lancashire Regiment (QLR) and the Army in Iraq, the statement added.

Morgan's ousting came hours after a frontal assault by the QLR, accusing the newspaper of being a recruiting poster for al Qaeda and urging Morgan to step down.

But a man identified as "Soldier C", a reservist who has spoken to the Mirror and military police, told ITV in his first televised interview that prisoners were beaten without reason.

"They were beaten for fun," he said, his face in shadow. "I saw prisoners being punched, slapped, kicked, pushed around. Sand bagged, zip tied. I saw them in those sand bags for hours and hours on end. And then water would be poured over them."

"It was isolated incidents, and I believe a lot of the British soldiers didn't know that it was going on," he said.

Following the publication of the Mirror's photos, both Amnesty International and the International Committee of the Red Cross said they had expressed concerns to British authorities months ago about treatment of detainees by the British forces.

Officials said 33 cases against British troops were under investigation, with 12 ongoing. Of the 21 completed, six could lead to charges and 15 had "no case to answer".

- REUTERS


Herald Feature: Iraq