MoD admits breaching Iraqi's rights

The Ministry of Defence will also admit breaching the rights of eight other Iraqi men who have brought a civil case in the British courts, he told MPs.

The announcement - more than four years after Mr Mousa's death - opens the door to unlimited compensation pay-outs to his family, and to the eight men.

In a written statement, Mr Browne said that in relation to the claim by Mr Mousa's family, the Government would admit "substantive breaches" of parts of the European Convention on Human Rights which protect the right to life and prohibit torture.

Armed forces minister Bob Ainsworth said "acts of abuse" had been carried out by a "very small minority" of British troops.

"I deeply regret the actions of a very small number of troops and I offer my sincere apologies and sympathy to the family of Baha Mousa and the other eight Iraqi detainees," he said. "All but a handful of the over 120,000 British troops who have served in Iraq have conducted themselves to the highest standards of behaviour, displaying integrity and selfless commitment.

"But this does not excuse that during 2003 and 2004 a very small minority committed acts of abuse and we condemn their actions."

He added: "The Army has done a great deal since these cases to improve procedures and training. But we are not complacent and continue to demand the very highest standards of conduct from all our troops."

Mr Mousa, 26, a hotel receptionist in Basra, was detained under suspicion of being an insurgent. Seven members of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment (QLR), which is now the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, faced the most expensive court martial in British history over the case, but all were eventually acquitted.

The case took more than three years of investigation and cost more than £20 million.