Mirror editor Morgan quits

Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan tonight stepped down after admitting that the pictures of soldiers abusing Iraqis were a "calculated and malicious hoax".

Mr Morgan left his post hours after the regiment at the centre of the controversy demanded an apology.

A statement from Mirror publishers Trinity Mirror said: "The Daily Mirror published in good faith photographs which it absolutely believed were genuine images of British soldiers abusing an Iraqi prisoner.

"However there is now sufficient evidence to suggest that these pictures are fakes and that the Daily Mirror has been the subject of a calculated and malicious hoax.

"The Daily Mirror therefore apologises unreservedly for publishing the pictures and deeply regrets the reputational damage done to the QLR and the Army in Iraq.

"The Board of Trinity Mirror has decided that it would be inappropriate for Piers Morgan to continue in his role as Editor of the Daily Mirror and he will therefore be stepping down with immediate effect."

It added that Des Kelly, the paper's deputy editor, will assume the role of acting editor.

Morgan was a gullible idiot. His brother is a Captain in the British Army. All he had to do was run the pictures by his brother before even contemplating publishing them. The paper paid two individuals money for their story and pictures. Army investigators have tracked down and identified the truck that the images were taken in. The truck was found in a military base in North West England. Morgan stated that these two individuals were serving UK troops and published pixelated images of them wearing uniform the newspaper. Regardless of who these individuals are they need to be named and shamed. If serving military they should be discharged and end up in military prison.

The south of Iraq was relatively quiet until these images were used by the religious leaders to drum up support. The result of that was a large scale ambush on UK troops. Fortunately it backfired on the terrorists. The recent news hot off the press is that 20 terrorists are waiting in line for to receive their quota of virgins!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3716491.stm

UK troops kill 16 after ambush

British troops control Southern Iraq
British troops have fought off three ambushes in southern Iraq, leaving 16 insurgents dead, the UK military says.
Two soldiers were hurt but their wounds were not described as life threatening.

The battle came after militiamen attacked a British convoy 18 miles south of the town of Amara with rocket propelled grenades and small arms.

Reinforcements had to be called in during the fire-fight which also wounded one man and led to the capture of another.

The convoy drove through the first ambush but was attacked a second and then a third time.

Cleric call

The British military have described the incident as a significant blow to the militia in the area of Amara.

At Friday prayers in Basra, where the majority of UK troops are based, a senior Shia cleric called for suicide attacks on coalition forces.

Sheik Abdul-Sattar al-Bahadli said he would form militias and asked the city's residents to register on Saturday.

Mr al-Bahadli is loyal to Moqtada Sadr, the Shia cleric whose forces are involved in a series of battles with US troops in Iraq's holy city of Najaf.

Last week British troops had to restore calm to Basra after clashes with insurgents left a number of Iraqis dead and British soldiers injured.

The violence happened after Mr al-Bahadli offered money for the capture or killing of coalition troops.

On Friday in Amarah, Farqad al-Mousawi, another aide to Mr Sadr, warned members of the Iraqi police and civil defence corps they risked assassination if they helped US soldiers fight militants in Najaf.

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