UK soldiers face war crimes trial

One soldier faces manslaughter charges and two others abuse charges after an operation in which the Iraqi died. Four more soldiers face other charges.

All seven will be tried by British courts martial, not at The Hague.

In a separate case, four soldiers face criminal charges over claims an Iraqi drowned in a canal after being beaten.

One of the 11 men charged is a colonel, the most senior officer to be charged with an offence during the military action in Iraq. The charges faced by three of the men - of "inhuman treatment of persons" - were brought under the International Criminal Court Act 2001 and will be tried as war crimes.

The soldiers involved are from the Queen's Lancashire Regiment.

Brigadier Geoffrey Sheldon, the colonel of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment, said the death of Baha Mousa, the victim in the first case, was an "isolated, tragic incident which should never have happened and which I and every member of the regiment bitterly regrets".

But Phil Shiner, lawyer for the Mousa family, said a charge of murder would be more suitable and said it was inappropriate for the British military to try their own.

The charges were announced by the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, in the House of Lords on Tuesday evening.

In the first case, the soldiers are alleged to have committed a number of offences against a group of detainees arrested following a planned operation.

One of the detainees, Mr Mousa, a Basra hotel receptionist, was allegedly killed by one of those charged, Corporal Donald Payne, 34, of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment.

Corp Payne is also alleged to have mistreated others and faces charges of manslaughter, inhuman treatment of persons and perverting the course of justice.

Two other members of the regiment, Lance Corporal Wayne Crowcroft, 21, and Private Darren Fallon, 22, also face charges of inhuman treatment of persons.

A fourth serviceman, Sergeant Kelvin Stacey, 28, also of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment, is alleged to have assaulted a detainee and faces a charge of assault causing actual bodily harm, or alternatively common assault.