THE commanding officer of three British soldiers accused of mistreating Iraqi civilians was blamed yesterday for the abuse because he conducted an illegal operation.

But Major Dan Taylor was shielded from punishment by a senior officer, despite clear indications that he had violated the Geneva Convention, it was alleged at a court martial of the young fusiliers in Osnabrück.

The major’s plan, code-named Operation Ali Baba, to capture and punish armed Iraqi looters turned into “Operation Mishmash” and succeeded only in putting the soldiers in the dock, the court martial was told.

He was spared a court martial only five days before the soldiers were to stand trial because charging him would “not be in the public interest”.

A letter from his commanding officer, Brigadier Nick Carter of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, read out at the court martial of Corporal Daniel Kenyon, and Lance Corporals Mark Cooley and Darren Larkin, informed the major that his order to “work hard” Iraqi detainees had been unlawful.

The brigadier said Major Taylor had acted “out of misguided zeal”. But no action would be taken against him because he had been prompted by “humanitarian concerns”: looting of Camp Bread Basket, the food depot he commanded near Basra, had become rife. Operation Ali Baba would not result in a court martial, said the letter, because that “would not be in the service and public interest”.

Major Taylor was accused by Joseph Giret, counsel for Corporal Kenyon, of issuing the illegal command for the highly charged young troops to punish looters only a fortnight after they had been told to shoot to kill on the battlefields of Iraq.

Mr Giret described the major as an uncaring leader who ignored the rules of war to mete out punishment that he knew was unlawful. “This is not Operation Ali Baba,” he said, “this is Operation Mishmash for mismanagement. You went against the orders of the officer commanding not to try ‘novel methods’ when you told these soldiers what to do. You have had training in the Articles of War, had a soldier’s card which said that punishing civilians was illegal and yet you ordered them to be punished.

“You admit that you have never heard of such an order being given before and yet you refuse to admit that it was a novel order.”

Major Taylor sat stony-faced in the witness box as Mr Giret cross-examined him, and replied: “I obtained approval from the commanding officer.” He added: “I briefed Lieutenant-Colonel Paterson the night before, said it was intended to catch a larger amount of looters . . . I said that they would be worked for some time and then they would be released. I said they would be worked hard for a brief period. They were to be put to work clearing up the mess they had created.”

According to the major, Lieutenant-Colonel David Paterson then said: “You have got Milan Platoon with you, make sure you use them.” The three men in the dock were all members of that platoon. All deny charges of abusing and sexually humiliating civilian captives although Lance Corporal Larkin admits one charge of assault. All face lengthy jail terms and dismissal with disgrace from the Army if found guilty. The court was told that looters had been intercepted while trying to load stolen baby food on to a cart. They were brought back to camp and put to work.

The defence said that the major had let down his soldiers by his unlawful order. “Just two weeks after being told to kill Iraqis you were issuing an order telling them to punish them,” Mr Giret said. “Don’t you have a duty of care towards your soldiers, to make allowances for the fact they are still maturing young men, looking to you to set an example and lead and explain why they have instructions to punish a person who may have shot dead a soldier’s colleague?” Mr Giret added: “Something has gone wrong; it is your fault isn’t it?” The major replied: “No, sir.”

The hearing continues.

• Copenhagen: A female Danish military intelligence officer and four male military police sergeants are to be tried for alleged abuse at an Iraqi jail, the Defence Ministry said. (AFP)

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