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Mirror Editor Fired Over
Iraqi Abuse Photos

By Jeremy Lovell
5-14-4
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
"The pictures accurately illustrated the reality about the appalling conduct of some British troops," he said.
 
But Friday, newspaper owners Trinity Mirror threw in the towel and threw out their editor.
 
The statement by the board said the newspaper published the photographs "in good faith" and "absolutely believed" at the time they were genuine.
 
"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."
 
The Daily Mirror apologized and regretted damage done to the Queens Lancashire Regiment and the Army in Iraq.
 
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.
 
"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.
 
SOLDIERS' WRATH
 
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.
 
"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.
 
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.
 
Observers say the Mirror pictures have irreparably damaged the reputation of British troops.
 
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."
 
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.
 
"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."
 
"It was isolated incidents, and I believe a lot of the British soldiers didn't know that it was going on," he said.
 
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.
 
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."
 
- Additional reporting by Laith Abou-Ragheb in Preston, England
 
Copyright © 2004 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.
 
http://news.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=WFKPEFN
AFAPIECRBAELCFFA?type=topNews&storyID=5151422


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