LONDON - Britain`s army chief General Mike Jackson and defense secretary Geoff Hoon apologized Friday to the Iraqis after a British military court in Germany jailed three soldiers for abusing Iraqi civilian prisoners.
"I do apologize on behalf of the army to those Iraqis who were abused and to the people of Iraq as a whole," the chief of the General Staff told a press conference at the defense ministry in London.
General Jackson said he was "appalled and disappointed" when he first saw photographs of the Iraqis being mistreated at a camp near Basra in May 2003, which emerged at the military trial of British troops in Germany.
"The incidents depicted are in direct contradiction to the core values and standards of the British Army," Jackson said.
However, he said the incidents do not "represent the vast majority of its soldiers."
Jackson said he will soon appoint a senior officer to "assess what lessons we may need to learn," track any further prosecutions and present recommendations for action.
"We will publish our findings when we are no longer constrained by the legal process," Jackson added.
His remarks were echoed by defense secretary, Hoon, who issued a statement saying he was "profoundly disturbed" by the photographs and apologized to the Iraqis.
The images of the abuse prompted comparisons with the mistreatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, which was revealed in a series of photographs taken by US guards.
Corporal Daniel Kenyon, 33, was given an 18-month prison sentence after being found guilty of three charges including failing to report the mistreatment of captured looters at an aid camp near Basra in May 2003.
Lance Corporal Mark Cooley, 25, was sentenced to two years in prison after being found guilty of two charges including driving a forklift truck with a bound Iraqi suspended from the prongs.
A picture of the helpless Iraqi dangling from the forklift was among a series of photographs taken by soldiers at the aid camp known as Camp Bread Basket. Other photographs showed naked Iraqi men being forced to simulate sex.
The third defendant, Lance Corporal Darren Larkin, 30, was sentenced to 140 days in jail for assault. He was pictured standing on an Iraqi.
All three soldiers from the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers were dishonorably discharged from the army by a panel of seven senior officers and a judge at the court martial in an army barracks in northern Germany.
Jackson played down reports that there have been 164 investigations into incidents involving Iraqi citizens.
He added that the figure "includes routine investigations, 100 of which arise from our strict policy of examining the circumstances of our returning fire in the course of a fire fight."
02/25/2005 23:07 GMT - AFP