THE two British servicemen whose capture led to the storming of a jail in Iraq were later rescued from militiamen, senior army officials said today. Brigadier John Lorimer, commander of the 12th mechanised brigade, said the two men were actually found at a house in the city after troops broke into the prison at a police HQ to look for them. He said that the jailbreak had been ordered after Iraqi security services - supposedly allies of the British military - handed the two servicemen over to militiamen.
Defence secretary John Reid raised concerns that the two servicemen - thought to be special forces officers - were handed to militiamen. Politicians today condemned the incident and raised fears that relations between the British military and Iraqi security forces would never be the same again. Basra's governor, Mohammed al-Waili, said British soldiers used more than ten tanks and helicopters to break down the walls of the prison after the two soldiers were arrested for allegedly shooting dead a local policeman and wounding another. |