Guardian: Lawyers 'besiege' army over Iraq abuse

[sabra]

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1535137,00.html

Lawyers 'besiege' army over Iraq abuse

New wave of cases sparks military anger at 'ambulance-chasers'

Jamie Doward, Social affairs editor
Sunday July 24, 2005
The Observer

Britain's armed forces face a new wave of damaging legal actions over the alleged torture of detainees in Iraq, prompting concerns from defence chiefs over the role of UK law firms whom they accuse of placing military personnel 'under siege'.
Earlier this month Lord Guthrie, the former Chief of the Defence Staff, spoke of 'civilian solicitors from the UK who are touting for business on the streets of Basra'.

The law firm acting for Baha Mousa, the 26-year-old Iraqi hotel receptionist whose death while in the custody of the British army led to war crimes charges against three soldiers last week, is preparing a raft of cases against the military detailing new allegations of abuse and torture.

'The military like to suggest the Mousa case is the iceberg, not the tip. Unfortunately they are wrong,' said Phil Shiner, a solicitor with the Birmingham-based law firm Public Interest Lawyers (PIL). 'I'm acting in over 50 cases of which 22 involve torture or even death of civilians held in detention during occupation.'

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[Voltaire99]

1. How's a squaddie to get on with his torture...

...with bloody barristers distracting him?

Please: this work requires concentration.

[D-Notice]

2. Bastard lawyers!

Always get in the way! ;-)