'Shoot the looters'

The major at the centre of the Iraq abuse scandal today claimed aid workers pleaded with him to shoot looters.

Major Dan Taylor said the raiding became so severe he even fired warning shots into the air himself as gangs plundered food supplies meant for starving civilians.

His dramatic testimony came as it was revealed he was given just a slap on the wrist for issuing an "unlawful" order to his troops, telling them to capture looters and "work them hard".

In contrast, three Royal Fusiliers under his command are on trial charged with a string of abuses against Iraqi civilians, for which they could face 10 years in jail if found guilty.

Today Major Taylor told the court martial how he ordered Operation Ali Baba in a bid to tackle the scourge of Iraqi looters. He said: "The civilian staff shouted out 'Ali Baba', meaning looters. They primarily came in at first light to rob and thieve what they could, and primarily they went for baby food.

"They were always organising in groups of three or as many as 10 and 20. My attitude was that we should try to prevent looting whenever we could and took those we captured to the PoW cell but they were being released immediately and in some cases were back looting again on the same day.

"Without a large manpower force from the British Army to guard the place, which was not possible, we were limited in what we could do."

He was sent back-up from another part of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, which included the accused, Lance Corporal Darren Larkin, Lance Corporal Mark Cooley and Corporal Daniel Kenyon.

The court martial was ordered after pictures allegedly showing them abusing Iraqi civilians were handed to police. The images have caused shock around the world and have been condemned by Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The alleged abuse includes images of naked Iraqi prisoners simulating sex acts, British soldiers pretending to punch and kick bound men and a prisoner - grimacing with fear - tied to the forks of a forklift truck.

Major Taylor said he devised a plan after capturing three looters himself. He told the court martial in Osnabruck: "The plan was that we would move off early in the morning beside the complex. Around 40 to 50 soldiers were to take part."

The soldiers were armed with three foot poles which they could use in self-defence.

He said: "I just said that they were to be captured and delivered to the area of the cookhouse-I told them what we were going to do and how they were going to go and that we were carrying out a properly organised military activity. I said we would apprehend the looters, gather them in, and I was going to talk to them. They would then be given work to do."

Maj Taylor said a large group of looters were observed by him dropping boxes of baby food as they attempted to flee. They were headed off by soldiers on foot and Land Rover and made to carry the boxes of baby food back into the base.

"I told them when they were back in the camp that they were stealing food from the Iraqi people ... Someone said to me 'what if we took a photo and we could give it to the Iraqi police?' I thought it was a good idea because if they were caught again it would be valuable for identification. I told the Iraqis this and they were not happy, there were murmurings. One had a camera and took a pic."

The court martial also heard today how Maj Taylor was only dealt with at "summary level", which means he was spoken to by senior officers despite his soldiers being subjected to a court martial. The officers concluded that he was guilty of no more than "misguided zeal".