British Soldier Torture Claims 'Lies'

British Soldier Torture Claims 'Lies' - Inquiry

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 17 Desember 2014 | 22.56

British Soldier Torture Claims 'Lies' - Inquiry

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By Alistair Bunkall, Defence Correspondent

The Defence Secretary has accused Iraqi prisoners of attempting to use the UK legal system to damage the reputation of Britain's armed forces.

Michael Fallon lambasted them for making "false allegations" of abuse by British forces, which triggered a judge-led inquiry costing the British taxpayer £31m and put soldiers through six years of anxiety.

And he called on their British lawyers to apologise.

Mr Fallon made his comments after a major inquiry ruled allegations of torture and murder, made against British soldiers bythe former prisoners, were "wholly without foundation".

The Al Sweady Inquiry found accusations of war crimes made in 2008 were "entirely the product of deliberate lies, reckless speculation and ingrained hostility".

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Gallery: Al Sweady Inquiry Releases Images

Detained Iraqis being guarded by a British soldier - one of the images released by the Al Sweady Inquiry into alleged British army abuses of Iraqi prisoners

The inquiry, which lasted five years and cost the taxpayer £25m, has ruled claims that members of the British military tortured captured Iraqis were "lies". Continue through for more images

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Mr Fallon said the claims had been a "shameful attempt to use our legal system to attack and falsely impugn our armed forces".

He said the lawyers who represented the Iraqi prisoners had made errors which had cost the taxpayer money and put the soldiers involved through years of uncertainty.

And he called for them to issue an "unequivocal apology to the soldiers whose reputations they attempted to traduce".

The two solicitors' firms involved - Public Interest Lawyers and Leigh, Day & Co - are being investigated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

At the heart of the judge-led inquiry, the largest of its kind, was the claim that 20 or more Iraqis were unlawfully killed and mutilated after the so-called Battle of Danny Boy on 14 May 2004.

These claims were withdrawn earlier this year - after it emerged they were false - but the inquiry continued to examine claims British troops mistreated Iraqi detainees in their custody.

The Inquiry Chairman, Sir Thayne Forbes, noted that the British soldiers responded to the ambush with "exemplary courage, resolution and professionalism". Five were awarded the Military Cross for their actions and one the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross.

He said he found no evidence of tortured or war crimes and concluded the prisoners colluded to discredit the British Army.

Senior defence sources have told Sky News: "This has been a disgrace from start to finish. It has been the work of self-interested lawyers who, for whatever reason, have decided to take the word of those who sought to kill brave British soldiers."

However, the Army did not escape criticism. Sir Thayne found there had been instances of ill-treatment during "tactical questioning" of the detainees on the night of May 14/15.

The inquiry found the prisoners were blindfolded or deprived of their sight for an unacceptable amount of time and not fed properly.

The former High Court judge also criticised British soldiers for "tasteless trophies" such as striking poses for photos with detainees but said none of the behaviour amounted to war crimes.

Named after 19-year-old Hamid al Sweady, who died in British custody, the inquiry, which was announced in 2009, received evidence from 610 witnesses.

The report made nine recommendations for the British military including recording interrogations, making proper prisoner medical examinations and keeping records and making sure there are sufficient interpreters.

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Written By Unknown on Selasa, 16 Desember 2014 | 22.56

Pakistan's prime minister Nawaz Sharif has called the Taliban's massacre at a school in Peshawar a "national tragedy".

The province has been the target of frequent militant attacks in the past.

The Pakistani Taliban said the attack on the military-run school was "revenge" for a widespread military operation in the North Waziristan tribal area earlier this year.

The group, called Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), was formed in 2007, in the aftermath of the siege of the Red Mosque in Islamabad.

The group's first leader Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a US missile attack in August 2009.

TTP is an umbrella for militant groups, united in fighting the Pakistani military.

It aims to impose a strict interpretation of the Koran throughout the country.

Here are just some of the attacks they have been linked to in recent years:

:: Benazir Bhutto Assassination 2007

Pakistan's government accused TTP of involvement in the assassination of the former prime minister in December 2007, although the group denies it.

:: Marriott Hotel Bombing 2008

A Taliban-linked group claimed responsibility for the September 2008 truck bomb attack on the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, which killed 53 people.

:: Times Square Plot 2010

Baitullah Mehsud was succeeded by Hakimullah Mehsud, who pledged to use suicide bombers in the US. He was behind the failed truck bomb attack in New York's Times Square in May 2010.

The US Department of State formally declared the group a terrorist organisation in September 2010, with the UK and Canada following suit in 2011.

:: Malala Yousafzai Shooting 2012

In October 2012 the Taliban shot the schoolgirl in the head outside her school in Swat Valley for daring to speak about girls' rights.

She survived, and went on the win the Nobel Peace Prize.

:: Karachi Airport Attack 2014

After peace talks with the Pakistan government in June 2014 failed, the Taliban attacked Karachi Airport, killing 26 people.

A week later the Pakistan military began a major military offensive, Operation Zarb e Azb in the Waziristan region, which has seen hundreds of militants killed.

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Pakistan Militants Killed In School Massacre

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Taliban gunmen have killed 130 people, including at least 100 children, in a school attack in Peshawar, Pakistan.

Nine men stormed the army-run school while around 500 children and teachers were believed to be inside, with many students taking exams at the time.

At least 122 people are thought to have been injured in the siege, most in the first few hours of the attack as the gunman fired bullets indiscriminately at pupils and teachers.

A local hospital said the dead and injured were aged from 10 to 20 years old.

"One of my teachers was crying, she was shot in the hand and she was crying in pain," Shahrukh Khan, 15, who was shot in both legs, said.

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Gallery: Taliban In Deadly School Raid

Pakistani men help an injured student to a hospital following an attack by Taliban gunmen on a school in Peshawar

Rescue workers and family members carry the coffin of a student, who was killed during the attack

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Ambulances, carrying schoolchildren, make their way from the school

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Students have told of their terror as the school was stormed

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"One terrorist then walked up to her and started shooting her until she stopped making any sound. All around me my friends were lying injured and dead."

Teachers and pupils were held hostage by the Tehreek-e-Taliban gunmen before the army stormed the building in a bid to end a battle which raged for almost nine hours.

As darkness fell, a military source said "the operation is complete," adding that all nine militants were dead.

Local media reported that the men managed to slip past the school's tight security because they were wearing Pakistani military uniforms.

The Taliban said the militants were equipped with suicide vests and there were fears of more casualties when three explosions were heard inside the school.

"We selected the army's school for the attack because the government is targeting our families and females," said Taliban spokesman Muhammad Umar Khorasani.

"We want them to feel our pain."

Police struggled to hold back distraught parents trying to break past a cordon and get to the school as the loud explosions went off inside.

"My son was in uniform in the morning. He is in a casket now," wailed one parent, Tahir Ali, as he came to the hospital to collect the body of his 14-year-old son Abdullah. "My son was my dream. My dream has been killed."

Video and photos showed other young children in their green uniforms being led away from the school by soldiers and an army helicopter flying overhead.

A school bus driver said: "We were standing outside the school and firing suddenly started and there was chaos everywhere and the screams of children and teachers."

The school is located on the edge of a military cantonment in Peshawar, but the majority of the students are civilian.

One of the wounded students, Abdullah Jamal, said that he was with a group of 8th, 9th and 10th graders who were getting first-aid instructions and training with a team of Pakistani army medics when the violence began for real.

When the shooting started, Abdullah, who was shot in the leg, said nobody knew what was going on in the first few seconds.

"Then I saw children falling down who were crying and screaming. I also fell down. I learned later that I have got a bullet," he said, speaking from his hospital bed.

"All the children had bullet wounds. All the children were bleeding," Abdullah added.

Pakistan's prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who has arrived in the area, called the massacre a "national tragedy".

Education campaigner and Nobel peace prize winner Malala Yousafzai, who left Pakistan after being shot by the Taliban, said: "I am heartbroken by this senseless and cold-blooded act of terror in Peshawar that is unfolding before us."

The 17-year-old said she and millions of others "mourn these children, my brothers and sisters but we will never be defeated".

British Prime Minister David Cameron condemned the attack and called it "deeply shocking".

"It's horrifying that children are being killed simply for going to school," he said.

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Written By Unknown on Senin, 15 Desember 2014 | 22.56

The gunman who held up to 20 people hostage in a Sydney cafe has been named as Sheikh Man Haron Monis, aged 49.

He was holed up in a cafe in the heart of the city's financial and shopping area for several hours, raising a black Islamist flag and using human shields in the window.

A number of the hostages have managed to escape as the siege ended with a series of loud blasts.

Sydney police say Monis - who claimed he'd planted two bombs inside the cafe and two more nearby - is well-known to them.

Channel Nine reporter Airlie Walsh told Sky News that the existing charges against him include accessory to murder and sexual assault.

She said: "The list of charges against the Sheikh are extremely long and extremely worrying.

"He's a very secretive man on a personal level, but he is notorious for his acts of violence."

She added that he moved to Australia in 1996 from Iran.

He is notorious in Australia for sending abusive letters to family members of soldiers killed in Afghanistan.

Sky's Sam Kiley said Monis may have a "fetish for self-publicity" which could have proved "useful to the hostage negotiators".

He added that Monis is currently on bail for 47 sexual assaults and is a "fantasist" with a "really very chaotic background".

His former lawyer Manny Conditsis said: "This is a one-off random individual. It's not a concerted terrorism event or act. It's a damaged goods individual who's done something outrageous.

"His ideology is just so strong and so powerful that it clouds his vision for common sense and objectiveness."

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Former Hostage Describes Terror Of Captivity

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A former hostage described the terror he felt while being held captive and urged those caught up in an armed siege in the Sydney cafe to remain calm.

The siege was brought to end after more than 16 hours when armed police stormed the building.

Gunfire and explosions were heard and several people have been injured.

Mark Henderson was taken hostage in 2003 by left-wing rebels while trekking in the Colombian jungle.

"You are completely powerless, everything you took for granted is gone, you have no freedom," he told Sky News.

Speaking about the siege in the Lindt cafe, he said: "The one thing I would say is to stay calm, to try to understand what is going on around you.

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Gallery: Latest Images From Australia

A bomb disposal robot moves towards Sydney's Lindt Cafe after armed police moved in to end the seige in a barrage of gunfire.

A woman is carried out of the cafe after armed police stormed the building where a gunman was holding up to 20 hostages

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Several people were taken away from the scene on stretchers in the aftermath of the assault on the cafe

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Armed officers were apparently forced to go into the building after a group of five hostages made thier escape

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"Also to stay positive. I stayed positive through my ordeal, because if I kept in my mind that I could get out one day, it would happen."

Asked how the hostages in Australia might be feeling, he said: "Confused, I imagine quite scared, curious about what is going on and what is going on in the outside world.

"In those first few hours we just went along with what they (the kidnappers) said.

"For the first few days I did not believe it was happening to me, this is something that happens on the news or to someone else."

Mr Henderson was held for 101 days, during which time he was made to walk more than 700 miles in remote mountainous jungle.

He described how the situation changed over time and that there was "a slow acceptance" of what was happening.

"It was like an out-of-the-body experience. It took quite a while for it to sink in," he said.

He tried to develop relationships with some of his captors and understand their motives.

"At some point you have to control your terror and anger otherwise it gets worse and worse," he said.

In the Sydney siege several customers and members of staff managed to escape before police stormed the building.

Mr Henderson said some of the other foreign tourists he was with managed to escape six or seven hours into the kidnapping.

But others who tried to escape further into their ordeal were later captured and treated cruelly.

"It takes a certain kind of person who could do that (escape) and the situation has to be right....you are putting your life in danger," he said.

Mr Henderson was released along with four other hostages in December 2003 when the rebels handed them over to mediators.

He described the impact of coming out alive from a hostage situation.

"I think every person is different. Every one of us has come out differently at the end and dealt with it differently.

"A lot is to do with the person you are going into it and the support you have on the way out and the support you have outside. There is no set way you should feel or react. There's no set of instructions I can give.

"Time is a very good healer."

Six years after his release Mr Henderson returned to meet one of his captors and made a documentary about his experiences.

:: Follow live updates of the Sydney siege

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Written By Unknown on Minggu, 14 Desember 2014 | 22.55

By Sophy Ridge, Political Correspondent

The head of the UK's Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) is demanding to see material documenting any British links to the CIA's use of torture.

Sir Malcolm Rifkind, chair of the Commons committee, is seeking any intelligence relating to the UK that was redacted from the explosive Senate report into the CIA.

It concluded that the CIA lied over its torture and interrogation programme developed in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.

Sir Malcolm told Sky's Murnaghan programme: "This is a major United States' report and so we are requesting, both our colleagues on the Senate Intelligence Committee ... but also it will ultimately be the United States government, that will decide whether some of the material that has been redacted in the American report can be shown to us.

"We don't need to see everything that's been redacted, what we need to see are the bits that might refer to the UK government."

Asked whether that information would be made public, he said the ISC would only agree for it to be withheld "if the Prime Minister was able to convince us that there were legitimate national security reasons why it shouldn't be published".

He said there had been "justified" criticism of the ISC in the past, but it had new powers to order intelligence agencies to hand over requested files and for its staff to go to MI5, MI6 and GCHQ to "personally inspect files to make sure nothing's been left out".

He said once the ISC had looked through the written material, "we will come to a judgement as to which people, first of all who in the intelligence agencies we wish to take evidence from, secondly either current ministers or former ministers who have intelligence on these matters".

Sir Malcolm said he does not think a judge-led inquiry into any British involvement in the CIA's rendition and torture programme is necessary.

He agreed the ISC does not have the power to compel ministers to give evidence, "but, of course, it would be huge scandal if they did refuse to".

The British Government has admitted requesting the deletion of references to Britain's intelligence agencies for national security reasons.

UK Government representatives had 24 meetings with members of the US committee responsible for the findings.

Some of the deletions are believed to relate to the British Overseas Territory of Diego Garcia.

There is escalating pressure on the British government not to extend an agreement allowing the US to use the territory in the Indian Ocean as a military base.

Andrew Tyrie, chair of the all-party parliamentary group on rendition, said any negotiations should address allegations that it was used by the CIA to render terror suspects around the world.

"The negotiations on the lease can focus minds on establishing the scope and limits of Britain's involvement, direct or indirect, in extraordinary rendition," Mr Tyrie said.

"We are talking about kidnap and taking people to places where they may be maltreated or tortured."

The former Home Office minister, Lib Dem MP Norman Baker, who has taken a close interest in the atoll, said: "As it comes up for renewal, we need a full explanation of what happened in our name on that island."

It comes amid reports former foreign secretary Jack Straw was questioned by police investigating the abductions of two Libyans who say they were handed to Colonel Gaddafi and tortured by his regime.

Mr Straw was interviewed as a "witness" by Scotland Yard following claims the Government was complicit in the rendition of the two men and their families, the Sunday Times said.

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