The Hindu : British army officer cleared of charges

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Sep 03, 2003

International

International

British army officer cleared of charges

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON SEPT. 2. A British army officer, who caught the headlines at the height of the Iraq war for allegedly intimidating and mistreating Iraqi civilians and prisoners, has been cleared after an inquiry by the Ministry of Defence.

Colonel Tim Collins, initially hailed as a hero for an intensely rousing address, praised among others by Prince Charles and the U.S. President, George W. Bush, fell from grace after an American marine accused him of "war crimes'' in a formal complaint to local U.S. authorities. Major Re Biastre, in his complaint, said he had heard accounts of abuse of captured Iraqis by Col. Collins in breach of the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners.

Later, he was accused by a former Ba'ath Party official, Ayoub Younis Nasser, of hitting him with the butt of a gun, and subjecting him and his son to "mock execution''.

Mr. Nasser reportedly said that he was woken up early in the morning by Col. Collins and his men. "They asked me if I had a gun and if I was a member of the Ba'ath Party. Because I was tired and had just woken up I said `no'. Suddenly, he took his pistol and hit me on the head twice,'' he said.

In another incident, Col. Collins was accused of shooting the tyres of a car, without provocation, after it had stopped at a checkpoint. Altogether, he faced five charges including punching and kicking, pistol-whipping and firing on the ground to intimidate a civilian.

But an inquiry has exonerated him, and a spokeswoman of the Ministry of Defence said on Monday: "I can confirm that the investigation into allegations against Colonel Collins has now concluded and that no criminal proceedings will be taken against him."

Col. Collins' colleagues had consistently maintained that the complainant bore a "grudge'' against him ever since a public row between them.

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