Iraq troops ‘witch hunt’ reaches end of the line

THE Government’s disastrous £60million criminal investigation into British troops in Iraq is to be shut down within months after a Telegraph campaign exposed the failings of the “witch hunt”.

Sir Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary, made the announcement hours after a parliamentary report condemned his ministry for paying “ambulance-chasing lawyers” to bring thousands of “spurious” cases against troops.

Sir Michael said in response that he would close the Iraq Historic Allegations Team (Ihat) in the summer after seven years.

He predicted Ihat’s case load would by then be reduced to just 20 investigations, which will be transferred to a unit within the Royal Navy Police. Sir Michael said those inquiries should be completed by next year.

Almost 3,500 allegations, including murder and torture, were reported to Ihat, the vast majority by Phil Shiner, who was struck off last week for acting dishonestly in bringing false claims made by Iraqis.

Ihat had paid Mr Shiner and his Iraqi agents hundreds of thousands of pounds to help with its investigations.

In seven years, the only conviction resulting from Ihat had been one of its own private investigators for the offence of impersonating a police officer.

The parliamentary report branded Ihat “unfit for purpose” and accused the Ministry of Defence of enabling law firms “to generate cases against service personnel at an industrial level”.

It recommended that Ihat be shut down immediately having “directly harmed the defence of our nation”.

The committee said it was “deeply concerned” that the MoD had used public funds to cover the costs of those who were bringing “spurious and unassessed” cases.

It also accused Ihat investigators of using “intimidatory tactics”, including “deeply disturbing” methods such as impersonating the police and spying on former and current servicemen.

The report said the catalogue of serious failings in Ihat’s conduct pointed to a loss of control in its management.

It added: “Both the MoD and Ihat have focused too much on satisfying the accusers and too little on defending those under investigation.”

In an astonishing run of events, Sir Michael attempted to pre-empt the parliamentary findings – initially due to be published on Sunday – by making

his own announcement that Ihat was being closed in the summer. That in turn prompted MPs to bring forward their own report to yesterday lunchtime.

The Defence Secretary said that the MoD – rather than being criticised – should receive credit for forcing Mr Shiner and his firm Public Interest Lawyers out of business.

Sir Michael said: “It was the MoD that supplied the main evidence that got Phil Shiner struck off for making false allegations against our Armed Forces. Exposing his dishonesty means many more claims he made can now be thrown out and the beginning of the end for Ihat.”

Sir Michael also announced that Operation Northmoor, a separate investigation into alleged abuses in Afghanistan was being scaled back dramatically.

The MoD said the Royal Military Police was “set to discontinue around 90 per cent of the 675 allegations” of alleged mistreatment of Afghans.

The scope of Operation Northmoor was first reported by The Telegraph last autumn, including a criminal inquiry into troops who arrested a Taliban commander accused of masterminding a bombing campaign. Its case load will now be reduced to just 60 or so cases.

But military leaders and veterans attacked the Government for failing to shut down Ihat more quickly.

Johnny Mercer, a Tory MP and former Army captain who chaired the parliamentary inquiry, said: “Through- out this process there has been an almost total disregard of the welfare of soldiers and their families.

“The MoD must take responsibility for allowing this to happen. They could have discriminated between credible and non-credible cases yet they lacked the will to do so.”

Rachel Webster, a former Army captain who was investigated by Ihat and was subsequently paid damages for her rough treatment during her arrest, broke down in tears when told by this newspaper Ihat was being shut.

Miss Webster, who was finally cleared in September after a two-andhalf year investigation, said: “Ihat has ruined my life. There needs to be some form of inquiry into why this witch hunt was allowed to go on for so long.”

Lord Dannatt, a former head of the Army, said: “The MoD should consider apologising to the very large number of servicemen who have been investigated and against whom no charges have been laid.”

Col Tim Collins, famous for his eve of battle speech before the 2003 Iraq invasion, said: “The simple fact of the matter is shutting Ihat down is long overdue.”

Col Richard Kemp, a former commander of British troops in Afghanistan, said: “Ihat should have been shut down before. It’s only because of the support that it’s had from successive governments that the likes of Shiner have been able to impose such misery and have been able to pursue soldiers through the courts in such numbers.”

Gen Sir Nicholas Carter, the Chief of the General Staff, said: “A significant number of claims made against our soldiers have not been credible. The recent exposure of unscrupulous law firms and vexatious claims has clearly shown this to be the case.

“We therefore welcome the Government’s commitment to ensuring we have the nation’s confidence and the tools to do our jobs effectively.”