New Iraqi deaths probe is 'needed'

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Six Iraqis have asked the court to order an independent public inquiry into accusations that soldiers may have killed up to 20 captives held after a gun battle in southern Iraq.

It was alleged Iraqi civilians were detained following "the battle of Danny Boy", a fire fight between British soldiers and Iraqi insurgents near the town of Majar-al-Kabir in Maysan Province on May 14 2004.

In a 20-day hearing, lawyers for the Iraqis put before the court evidence they said supported their contentions that captives were taken to a British base - Camp Abu Naji - and tortured, murdered and their bodies mutilated.

Five of the six applicants say they were themselves mistreated by British forces after being caught up in the fire fight and detained.

They say they were punched, threatened with violence, thrown violently against a wall, hit by guards if they fell asleep, denied water and subjected to other forms of mistreatment.

The Ministry of Defence emphatically denies wrongdoing by soldiers.

But the Defence Secretary has now conceded there was insufficient information before the judges for them to be able to make a fully-informed judgment on the allegations.

Clive Lewis QC, for the Government, said the secretary of state "profoundly regretted" a failure to make documents available to the court in good time, and the fact that searches for relevant documents "cannot be said to have been effective".

In those circumstances, the secretary of state was proposing "an investigation of allegations of the murder of Iraqi detainees at Camp Abu Naji in Southern Iraq on the night of May 14-15 2004 and specific allegations by five Iraq nationals of ill-treatment".