Security Oracle News Archive

Pair 'Killed By Iraqi Iintelligence'

Mon, October 02, 2006

Source: Ananova

Two soldiers who were dragged from their ambushed vehicle after being sent through a dangerous Iraqi town were murdered by enemy military intelligence officers, a coroner has ruled.

Two soldiers who were dragged from their ambushed vehicle after being sent through a dangerous Iraqi town were murdered by enemy military intelligence officers, a coroner has ruled.

Staff Sergeant Simon Cullingworth, 36, and Sapper Luke Allsopp, 24, were still alive when they were pulled from the vehicle and taken to Baath party headquarters near the town of Al Zubayr near Basra three years ago.

From there they were taken to an Iraqi military intelligence compound where they died of gunshot wounds.

The route that the soldiers took had been the site of another ambush on British forces just the day before and the danger in which they were being put should have been anticipated, said the Oxford coroner.

Coroner Andrew Walker said the "failure to adequately plan for and warn of the dangers was, in my view, a contributory factor to their deaths".

He said the route that the men had been given took them through the outskirts of the highly volatile town even though another route would have enabled them to avoid the area completely on their way to clear a site for a radio communications base.

He said he was satisfied that the pair had been "murdered by Iraqi intelligence personnel" after the attack on March 23 2003.

The men, both bomb disposal experts of the 33 Engineer Regiment, died of gunshot wounds fired from at least two rifles and one pistol, the court heard.

Following the deaths, there was outcry when Prime Minister Tony Blair said the soldiers had been executed. The family of Sapper Allsopp said they had been told that the men died in combat.

In Iraq two men are currently being held in connection with the killing, which is a war crime, pending a decision by an investigating judge.

www.ananova.com