British troops face charges over death of Iraqi PoW on ‘black ops’ f light
FOURTEEN British troops are being investigated over the death of an Iraqi civilian on board a UK helicopter taking part in a top-secret mission.
Tariq Sabri was carried unconscious from the Chinook aircraft and pronounced dead hours later on April 11, 2003.
At the time he was being transported between what are described as ‘illegal prisons’ in the Iraq desert. Sabri, an oddjob man, was buried without a post-mortem, making it hard to establish a cause of death.
Now, The Mail on Sunday has been told how he made a lunge for British airmen aboard the helicopter and was knelt on for the remainder of the flight.
The troops being questioned come from the RAF Regiment which last week was at the centre of a row over photos apparently showing airmen posing next to the dead bodies of Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.
The police investigation into Sabri’s death comes just days after the International Criminal Court (ICC) launched a ‘preliminary examination’ into the alleged torture of Iraqi prisoners by UK troops. The ICC probe, triggered by human
‘He could have killed everyone on board’
rights lawyer Phil Shiner, is controversial because the court usually investigates Third World dictators who systematically maim and kill civilians.
On the night he died, Sabri was arrested by Australian Special Forces on suspicion of being an insurgent and handed over to airmen from NoII Squadron, RAF Regiment for his transfer to a detention centre. Sabri was led aboard the Chinook wearing a sandbag over his head and with his thumbs bound together with plastic-cuffs. Minutes after take-off, he stood up, ripped off his bindings and began swinging his arms aggressively.
Fearing he would make a lunge for one of the machine guns stored on board, the airmen jumped on Sabri and pressed his body face-down against the floor. He was also allegedly punched and kicked.
When the Chinook landed at the ‘secret prison’ Sabri was unresponsive. British airmen handed him over to US troops and his apparently lifeless body was dumped in the back of a Humvee truck. He received no first aid. UK personnel were later told he was dead.
Last night a defence source said: ‘Mr Sabri’s death was a tragic accident, nothing more, nothing less. As the flight was over hostile territory, the Chi- nook was carrying a lot of weapons. When Sabri started behaving aggressively it was imperative that he was subdued. Sabri could have brought the Chinook down, killing everyone on board. Necessary force was used to restrain him, but nothing excessive.’
RAF Police are investigating why the airmen failed to administer first aid and why a sandbag was placed over his head – a method of restraining prisoners banned in the 1970s. On this occasion the airmen believe they were entitled to hood Sabri because the Chinook was a ‘sensitive environment’ and because the whereabouts of these ‘black ops’ jails was secret.
At the time the RAF was responsible for transporting suspect insurgents between detention centres in flights so secretive that British Forces’ top lawyer in Iraq, Colonel Nicholas Mercer, was told nothing about them.
Last night a Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: ‘As the investigation is ongoing it would be inappropriate to comment at this time.’