No excuse for Iraqi detainee death

LONDON, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- The British military said there were no excuses after an inquiry found grave abuses led to the 2003 death of an Iraqi man in British custody in Iraq.

British forces in Basra, Iraq, arrested Baha Mousa along with nine other Iraqis in 2003. He reportedly died from 93 different injuries related to his treatment while in custody.

British Cpl. Donald Payne was convicted of war crimes in 2007 in relation to Mousa's death and served one year in prison. Inquiry Chairman William Gage said the death was an appalling example of "corporate failure" at the Ministry of Defense, the BBC reports.

A "large number" of British soldiers were found to have assaulted Mousa and other detainees. Defense Secretary Liam Fox told the inquiry that Mousa's death and the abuse of other detainees in British custody was "deplorable, shocking and shameful."

The inquiry determined that many of the harsh interrogation techniques used by British forces in Iraq were banned in 1972 following a similar investigation into the treatment of detainees in Northern Ireland.

Fox stressed that what happened in Iraq and to Mousa was inexcusable

"His death occurred as a detainee in British custody," Fox said. "It was avoidable and preventable and there can be no excuses."