OSNABRUECK, Germany, Feb. 25 (UPI) -- Three British soldiers have received prison terms for abusing Iraqi detainees and dismissed from the Army.
A court martial at a British base in Germany imposed the sentences late Friday. Corp. Daniel Kenyon got 18 months, Lance Corp. Mark Cooley two years and Lance Corp. Darren Larkin 140 days, the Guardian reported.
Judge Advocate Michael Hunter said that some soldiers involved in an anti-looting campaign, Operation Ali Baba, may have been able to escape detection and punishment. Defense lawyers charge that Kenyon, Cooley and Larkin are scapegoats for senior officers.
The three were convicted of actions that included suspending an Iraqi prisoner from a forklift.
Sir Mike Jackson, army chief of staff, promised an investigation to prevent similar breaches of the Geneva Convention.
"I apologise on behalf of the army to the Iraqis that were abused and the people of Iraq as a whole," Jackson said.
