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Trial of British soldiers collapses

Hasan Suroor

LONDON: A high-profile trial of seven British soldiers, accused of murdering an Iraqi civilian in May 2003, has collapsed for want of adequate evidence triggering criticism of the prosecuting authorities and raising questions about other pending cases against British troops who served in Iraq. The case related to the death of Nadhem Abdullah (18), on May 11, 2003 after he was allegedly assaulted by British troops patrolling a village in southern Iraq three months after the war was formally declared over. Abdullah was among a group of Iraqi civilians allegedly dragged out by soldiers from a vehicle and attacked. A court, which tried the seven accused, ruled that in the absence of clinching evidence it would be a "miscarriage of justice'' to blame them collectively for the incident. But the judge, Jeff Blackett, acknowledged that Abdullah died as a "result of an assault'' which appeared to have been carried out by a section of the company led by Corporal Scot Evans, one of the accused. What had not been proved was that all the seven accused were part of a "joint enterprise'' that caused the death, as claimed by the prosecution. The judge said the investigation in the case had been "inadequate'', and Iraqi witnesses, who had been flown to Britain to give evidence, gave "exaggerated'' accounts. The trial, which was estimated to have cost up to £8 million, provoked criticism of the Royal Military Police which investigated the incident.

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