We tried to save teen from an angry mob, say soldiers
SAID Shabram drowned in May 2003 amid claims he and his cousin were forced into the water at gunpoint as troops struggled to quell riots in Basra, southern Iraq.
His cousin, Menem Akaili, claimed that he and Mr Shabram, 19, were approached by a British patrol and led at gunpoint down to a jetty before being forced into the Shatt al-Arab river.
The punishment was known as ‘wetting’ and was said to have been inflicted on local youths suspected of looting to keep control of the city after the US-led invasion of Iraq.
It was claimed that Iraqi bystanders managed to drag Mr Akaili out of the water but his cousin disappeared.
Mr Shabram’s body was later recovered by a diver hired by his father, Radhi.
Sapna Malik, the family’s solicitor at law firm Leigh Day, said in 2011: ‘Wetting was supposed to humiliate those suspected of being petty criminals.
‘Although the MoD denies that there was a policy of wetting to deal with suspected looters around the time of this incident, evidence we have seen suggests otherwise.
‘The tactics employed by the MoD appeared to include throwing or placing suspected looters into either of Basra’s two main waterways.’
The soldiers – all members of 32 Engineer Regiment at the time – have previously insisted that Mr Shabram was pursued into the water by an angry mob and that they actually tried to save his life.