'Only obeying orders'

British soldiers alleged to have abused Iraqi civilians were only following orders, a court martial heard today.

The claim came as a row erupted over the role and responsibility of senior Army officers in the scandal.

MPs, former Army chiefs and human rights groups are demanding to know just who was aware of the sexual and physical humiliation of Iraqi men caught looting at a camp near Basra. Graphic photographs of Iraqis being abused and forced to simulate sex acts were shown to the court martial and have caused revulsion around the world.

The reputation of the chain of command is on the line as an officer prepares to give evidence in the trial of three of his soldiers.

Major Dan Taylor allegedly ordered his men to capture looters and "work them hard".

The lawyer for one of the soldiers told the court martial today that the corporal was only there because of the orders he was given to crack down on looters in Operation Ali Baba - a reference to Ali Baba And The Forty Thieves.

Joseph Giret, representing Corporal Daniel Kenyon, said the soldier was following orders given by a superior officer. He said: "He has not acted out of character. The whole reason he is in the dock stems from those who gave the order to operate the plan Ali Baba. Mr Giret told the court martial in Osnabr¸ck, in Germany that Kenyon "has been described as a war hero and he was responsible for saving the lives of several of his colleagues".

A panel of seven officers is trying Kenyon and two comrades near their base in northern Germany. Lance Corporal Mark Cooley, 25, from Newcastle, and Kenyon, 33, plead not guilty.

Lance Corporal Darren Larkin, 30, from Oldham, admits one charge of assaulting an Iraqi man the camp, but denies another charge of forcing two Iraqi males to undress in front of others. Today the Army launched a defence of their training and claimed soldiers knew they were not to abuse civilians.

Senior legal adviser in Iraq, Lieutenant-Colonel Nicholas Mercer, told the court that soldiers were taught to report any abuse they witnessed.

He added: "What we say is that you should have moral courage and when you see something that is wrong, you should report it and it is taught from the outset."

In one of the photographs , British soldiers pretend to punch and kick bound men and in another a prisoner, grimacing with fear, is tied to the raised forks of a forklift truck. One picture shows a soldier standing on top of a prisoner.

Critics within the Ministry of Defence believe officers must have known the extent of the abuse meted out to the prisoners. "Where have the officers been in all this, some must have known what was going on ?" said one official.

Another MoD source said: "Some of these photographs are about as bad as it gets. They're shaming. It makes us all feel ashamed."

The pictures were taken on 15 May 2003 at a humanitarian aid camp known as Camp Bread Basket, near Basra, just weeks after Saddam Hussein's regime was overthrown.

Prosecuting officer Lieutenant-Colonel Nick Clapham told the court martial that Major Taylor's order to his troops was a breach of the Geneva Convention.

The court heard that Major Taylor had outlined it to his commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel David Paterson, who approved it.

Under the operation, a number of looters were captured and forced to carry back the aid they had stolen, the court heard. They were then broken down into groups and distributed between the servicemen-to be "worked hard" by carryingout menial tasks at the camp. A section run by Kenyon was in charge of three or four Iraqis.

A short time later the scenes of abuse depicted in the photographs occurred.

The Ministry of Defence officially declined to comment on the position of Major Taylor. A spokesman said: "Because the case is ongoing, we can't comment on the specifics."

But politicians, human rights groups and former military chiefs demanded to know exactly how far up the chain of command knowledge of the abuse went.

Tony Benn said: "My first thought is let's hear from the people who ordered it, not just from anyone who may have done it. It's the line of command that you go to. There's no question about what is going on.

"War is a brutal thing, none of it surprises me. But I want to know who gave instructions that they should be done. No soldier under military discipline would do that unless it was ordered or he knew that it would be accepted."

Former foreign secretary Robin Cook said: "The pictures are deeply disturbing and the Army are absolutely right to take the matter very seriously.

"This kind of behaviour will only make the environment more dangerous for British troops still there."

Iqbal Sacrani, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said: "In the Arab world it is hard to imagine something more degrading than making men simulate those sexual acts."