Soldier arrested over Iraq abuse video

LONDON - A soldier has been arrested over a video showing British troops beating Iraqi teenagers in 2004, the UK's Ministry of Defence said today.

A ministry spokesman also said the First Battalion of the army's Light Infantry Regiment was helping military police with their investigation into the incident. He confirmed the man arrested on Sunday night was a serving soldier.

The video, shown widely on British and Arab television, shows soldiers dragging Iraqi protesters behind a wall, beating them with batons and kicking them.

The News of the World, which released the footage, said it had been filmed from the roof of a building by another soldier. He can be heard on the tape mocking the Iraqis' plea for mercy.

British troops have been hit by allegations of abuses in the past, though not on the scale of those perpetrated by US soldiers against prisoners at Abu Ghraib jail near Baghdad.

Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Sunday he took the latest allegations very seriously. His spokesman said on Monday it was important the public in Iraq understood the government's abhorrence of any abuse.

- REUTERS