British major says he saw no abuse

OSNABRUECK, Germany -- The commander of three British servicemen accused of mistreating Iraqi detainees said yesterday he told soldiers to make captured looters "work hard" picking up garbage to deter rampant theft, but saw no abuse.

Major Dan Taylor denied ordering the alleged abuses, which occurred in May 2003, and said he gave the "work hard" order in an attempt to crack down on persistent looters at the sprawling aid warehouse compound outside Basra being guarded by the defendants' unit.

Looters, he said, kept coming back to the complex even after being kicked out -- sometimes several times a day -- and warning shots had little effect.

"We seemed to have an increasing number of looters in there. Nothing made any difference," Taylor testified during the soldiers' courts-martial by a panel of seven officers at a British base in Germany.

Three soldiers from the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers under Taylor's command are accused of abusing detainees. The case has provoked uncomfortable comparisons with the US Abu Ghraib scandal -- particularly when graphic photos emerged depicting naked prisoners apparently undergoing abuse from British soldiers.

Defense lawyers argue that the three were following Taylor's orders and had unclear legal guidance on how to treat common criminals as the army shifted from war to a policing role.

Prosecutors have said the "work hard" order was illegal but did not excuse abuse.

A general who reviewed the order concluded it was "not lawful," but recommended not charging Taylor because the major acted out of "sincere but misguided zeal" to protect aid stocks, according to a Jan. 7 letter to Taylor read in court yesterday.

Under the Geneva Conventions, the looters were protected civilians, but there was no evidence Taylor "ordered or encouraged" the alleged abuse, the letter from Brigadier Nick Carter said.

Taylor said he came up with a plan he dubbed Operation Ali Baba to deter stealing, mainly of food.

Taylor said that British troops had even been asked by Iraqis working at the former state warehouse to shoot looters and that the troops felt responsible for making sure humanitarian aid was not stolen. He said his crackdown order was OK'd by a superior officer.

He said that he walked by later, as captives were working cleaning up garbage, and saw no abuse. He said he didn't believe his order was illegal at the time and let the Iraqis go after about 1½ hours.

"In this case they were not normal civilians, they were looters," he said. "I didn't believe it was breaking any laws or regulations."

The abuse was shown in photos taken by a soldier who was arrested in England after bringing the film to be developed.

Some of the photos show a bound Iraqi being dangled over a loading dock by a forklift, another being subjected to a simulated kick and a simulated punch, and both Iraqis stripped and forced to feign sexual acts together.

Lance Corporal Darren Larkin, 30, has pleaded guilty to one count of battery after prosecutors alleged he was the man shown in a photo standing with both feet on a tied-up Iraqi lying on the ground.

Larkin and Lance Corporal Mark Cooley, 25, denied all other charges.

Cooley is charged with tethering the detainee to the forklift and driving it. He also is charged with simulating a kick and a punch against the other detainee, seen in two separate photos.

Corporal Daniel Kenyon, 33, the highest-ranking defendant, has pleaded not guilty to failing to report abuse to superiors.