- LONDON (Reuters) -- The editor
of one of Britain's most popular daily newspapers was fired Friday for
publishing faked pictures of British soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners.
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- Piers Morgan, editor of the Daily Mirror, was kicked
out by the board of Trinity Mirror, which said it was "inappropriate"
for him to continue as editor.
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- Despite mounting expert criticism of the pictures, and
a statement by the government Thursday that they were fake, Morgan insisted
his stories of abuse by troops were accurate.
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- "The pictures accurately illustrated the reality
about the appalling conduct of some British troops," he said.
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- But Friday, newspaper owners Trinity Mirror threw in
the towel and threw out their editor.
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- The statement by the board said the newspaper published
the photographs "in good faith" and "absolutely believed"
at the time they were genuine.
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- "However there is now sufficient evidence to suggest
that these pictures are fakes and that the Daily Mirror has been the subject
of a calculated and malicious hoax."
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- The Daily Mirror apologized and regretted damage done
to the Queens Lancashire Regiment and the Army in Iraq.
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- Morgan's ousting came hard on the heels of a full frontal
attack by the regiment, accusing the newspaper of being a recruiting poster
for al Qaeda and urging Morgan to resign.
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- "It's time that the ego of one editor is measured
against the life of the soldier," Brig. Geoff Sheldon told reporters
at the regiment's headquarters in Preston, northern England.
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- SOLDIERS' WRATH
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- Senior officers from the regiment accused the Mirror
of putting the lives of British soldiers at risk. One picture showed a
soldier apparently urinating on a prisoner.
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- "That photograph was a mocked-up fake and it wasn't
taken in Iraq. This is a deadly serious business because people's lives
have been placed in jeopardy by what has turned out to be utter and complete
nonsense," Sheldon said.
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- The Mirror pictures were published shortly after photos
and revelations of abuse of Iraqi detainees by U.S. troops at the Abu Ghraib
jail near Baghdad.
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- Observers say the Mirror pictures have irreparably damaged
the reputation of British troops.
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- Col. David Black, the most senior officer at the regiment
which was based in Basra in southern Iraq but no longer has soldiers there,
said the photos were a "recruiting poster for al Qaeda and every other
terrorist organization."
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- But a man identified as "Soldier C," a reservist
who has spoken to the Mirror and military police, told ITV in his first
televised interview that prisoners were beaten without reason.
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- "They were beaten for fun," he said, his face
in shadow. "I saw prisoners being punched, slapped, kicked, pushed
around. Sand bagged, zip tied. I saw them in those sand bags for hours
and hours on end. And then water would be poured over them."
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- "It was isolated incidents, and I believe a lot
of the British soldiers didn't know that it was going on," he said.
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- Following the publication of the Mirror's photos, both
Amnesty International and the International Committee of the Red Cross
said they had expressed concerns to British authorities months ago about
treatment of detainees by the British forces.
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- Officials said 33 cases against British troops were under
investigation, with 12 ongoing. Of the 21 completed, six could lead to
charges and 15 had "no case to answer."
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- - Additional reporting by Laith Abou-Ragheb in Preston,
England
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