Three Brits go on trial for Iraqi abuse

OSNABRUECK, Germany -- A court-martial jury viewed photos of what prosecutors called "shocking and appalling" mistreatment of Iraqis as three British soldiers went on trial Tuesday for the alleged abuse.

One soldier pleaded guilty to beating an Iraqi detainee, but he and the two others rejected all other charges at the opening of Britain's first case of its kind to go to trial. In the United States last week, U.S. Army Spc. Charles Graner Jr. was sentenced to 10 years in prison in the first trial stemming from scandal over abuse of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison.

Photos taken in May 2003 by British soldiers showed a bound Iraqi being dangled over a loading dock by a forklift, another being subjected to a simulated kick, and both Iraqis stripped and simulating sexual acts together.

"It cannot be said that those images depict something that is anything other than shocking and appalling," prosecutor Lt. Col. Nick Clapham told the court.

Photos of alleged mistreatment published in a British newspaper led to investigations against the three men.

Prosecutors alleged the events happened on a single day at a warehouse compound west of Basra that British troops had taken in April 2003 and were using to stockpile food aid for Iraqis.

To combat nightly looting by locals, the compound's commander had given orders to capture looters and make them "work hard" at the site, known as Breadbasket Camp, Clapham said.

Though that order was itself illegal and breached the Geneva Conventions, it did not justify the actions of which the three soldiers are accused, Clapham said.

"Even though this order was an unlawful one, had these defendants done no more than what that order envisaged, they would not be facing these charges here today," he said.

"These charges are a long way outside that order," Clapham said.

Lance Cpl. Darren Larkin, 30, pleaded guilty to one count of battery after prosecutors alleged he was the man shown in one photo standing with both feet on a tied-up Iraqi lying on the ground.

"He is ashamed of his unacceptable and mindless act ... and that he has brought shame to his proud regiment, himself and his family," Larkin's lawyer, William England, told the seven-member military jury.

Cpl. Daniel Kenyon, 33, and Lance Cpl. Mark Cooley, 25, pleaded innocent to all charges.

Several counts against Kenyon, who outranks the two others, involve charges that he failed to stop the alleged incidents and didn't tell his superiors.

Cooley is charged with tethering the detainee to the forklift and driving it. He also is charged with simulating a kick and a punch against the other detainee, seen in two separate photos.

The defendants, all from the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, showed little emotion as the charges were read. They stood at attention when they entered pleas, then sat and occasionally listened intently to the prosecutor's arguments.

Gen. Mike Jackson, the British army's top officer, said as the trial began that abuse allegations involve only a small number of soldiers but were being taken seriously.

"We condemn utterly all acts of abuse," he said in London. "Where there is evidence of abuse this is investigated immediately."