"Executed" British soldiers - two Iraqis held

[thedrifter]

"Executed" British soldiers - two Iraqis held

John Plunkett and agencies
Friday April 4, 2003

Two Iraqi men were tonight being questioned in connection with the killing of two British soldiers whose bodies were paraded on Arab TV.
The Ministry of Defence announcement came after two men, reported to be a father and son, were stopped at a road block at Zubayr, 15 miles outside Basra.

One of the men is believed to be Khalid Barour, a senior official in Saddam's Baath Party. The MoD said they had been detained "in accordance with the Geneva Convention."

The British soldiers, Sapper Luke Allsopp, 24, and Staff Sergeant Simon Cullingworth, 36, went missing after an attack on military vehicles near Zubayr. Their bodies were shown on al-Jazeera TV.

Tony Blair sparked a row after he said the men had been "executed." The family of Sapper Allsop angrily denied the claim, and said they had been told he was killed in action.

An MoD spokesman said tonight: "We are seeking information from the Iraqi people regarding the location of the bodies of our missing personnel and are actively trying to establish the circumstances of their deaths.

"We can confirm we have detained some persons who we suspect may have information that would be helpful to our inquiry. They will be detained in accordance with the Geneva Convention."


Sempers,

Roger