Iraqis unlawfully assaulted - MoD

The men are bringing a claim for civil damages against the MoD for physical and sexual abuse they say they suffered at Camp Bread Basket, a food distribution depot near Basra, in May 2003.

Three soldiers from the 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers were court martialled, jailed and expelled from the Army in February 2005 for mistreating suspected looters in the incident, which led to the head of the Army apologising to the people of Iraq.

Leigh Day & Co, the firm of solicitors acting for the men, said the MoD made the admission in papers filed in connection with the damages action, but said the ministry had said it was unable to admit or dispute the details of the treatment.

An MoD spokesman said it had admitted liability under Iraqi law but not British law.

Sapna Malik, from Leigh Day & Co, said: "The maltreatment of the men was hideous, humiliating and degrading and the legacy lingers with them to this day. We hope the admission marks the MoD's willingness to resolve the claims fairly so that the men can try to finally move forward with their lives."

The incident came to light after the emergence of so-called "trophy" photographs of abuse, including images of sexual humiliation. The pictures were taken by Fusilier Gary Bartlam, who took them to be developed at a shop in his hometown of Tamworth, Staffordshire, where an assistant called in police.

In one photograph Lance Corporal Mark Cooley was shown grinning, driving a forklift truck with a bound Iraqi prisoner suspended from the prongs, the prisoner's face grimacing with fear. Another showed Cooley, a father of one from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, kneeling and pretending to punch a prostrate prisoner.

Corporal Daniel Kenyon, also from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, appeared in the background of one picture which showed another Iraqi being assaulted.

Lance Corporal Darren Larkin, from Oldham, Greater Manchester, was seen in another picture, dressed in his boxer shorts and flip-flops, standing on top of a prone detainee who was tied in a cargo net. Kenyon and Cooley were found guilty of taking part in the mistreatment of captured looters, while Larkin pleaded guilty to assaulting an Iraqi prisoner.