Major is cleared of Iraq war drowning
A DECORATED Army Major accused of drowning an Iraqi teenager has been cleared following a 17- year investigation, with a judge saying witnesses may have conspired against him.
Major Robert Campbell has been exonerated after the latest official inquiry into the death of 19- year- old Saeed Radhi Shabram Wawi Al- Bazooni in Basra in May 2003.
Locals claimed Maj Campbell and colleagues from the 32 Royal Engineer Regiment forced the teenager and friend Munem Auda into a river at gunpoint having suspected them of looting near the marine base in Basra.
Mr Auda swam to safety but Mr Shabram slipped below the water
and did not resurface, prompting the investigation into Maj Campbell, who later described being “broken” by the repeated investigations.
But in her report on Thursday, former appeal court judge Baroness Hallett decided there was “no reliable evidence upon which it would be proper to conclude that ( Maj Campbell) or any other British soldier pushed the pair into the water”.
She added: “I have concluded that there is clear evidence of collusion and possibly a conspiracy on the part of some Iraqi civilians to pervert the course of justice and the collusion likely began on the day Shabram died.”
Maj Campbell said: “I am relieved that after eight investigations we have finally been exonerated.
“But I am angry that it took eight investigations, 17 years and destroyed my career.”