LONDON, July 20: A British Army regiment said on Wednesday it ‘bitterly regrets’ the death of an Iraqi detainee in its custody, after three of its soldiers were charged with war crimes over alleged prisoner abuse.

However, the Queen’s Lancashire Regiment, which was based in southern Iraq shortly after the US-led invasion of Iraq, made its anger plain at the decision to also charge its then-commanding officer.

While stressing its support for the investigation, the regiment took the highly unusual step of saying it had been ‘particularly difficult’ to learn the highly-decorated officer was among those facing trial.

Attorney General Lord Peter Goldsmith announced late on Tuesday that 11 soldiers in all would face charges following a long investigation into the alleged prisoner mistreatment.

Among these are three members of the Queen’s Lancashire Regiment who allegedly committed war crimes, the first British troops charged since such offences were brought under domestic law four years ago.

Although charged under the International Criminal Court Act of 2001, the servicemen will face court martial in Britain rather than being tried at The Hague, where the UN war crimes tribunal is based.

One soldier, Corporal Donald Payne, also faces manslaughter charges over the death of Baha Mousa, a 26-year-old hotel receptionist in the southern Iraq city of Basra.

Mr Mousa was taken into custody by soldiers from the Queen’s Lancashire Regiment in Sept 2003 and died in custody several days later. Mr Mousa’s father claims his body showed signs of having been badly beaten.

Corporal Payne, 34, is alleged to have inhumanely treated other detainees. Lance Corporal Wayne Crowcroft, 21, and Private Darren Fallon, 22, both of the same regiment, are also charged with war crimes.

Four other servicemen, two also from the Queen’s Lancashire Regiment, face lesser charges in the same case.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the commanding officer of the Queen’s Lancashire Regiment, Brigadier Geoffrey Sheldon, expressed his sorrow at Mr Mousa’s death.

—AFP