By Nick Britten and Michael Smith
(Filed: 31/05/2003)
The Telegraph (UK) A conservative newspaper
A British soldier was being questioned last night over photographs apparently showing an Iraqi prisoner being "tortured" during the Gulf war.
Gary Bartlam, 18, who serves with the 1st Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, was arrested on Wednesday afternoon after a roll of film was dropped off for developing at a high street shop.
He is being held in military custody at Colchester and being questioned by the Army's Special Investigation Branch about the pictures, which are alleged to contain, among other images, a PoW bound and gagged and suspended from a forklift truck.
The photographs will cause severe embarrassment to the Army and the Government, which compared the professionalism of British troops with the brutality shown by the Iraqi regime towards prisoners to gain public support for military action.
Yesterday Bartlam's mother, Margaret, said she had not had any contact with her son since his arrest, and had no plans to try to see him.
She added: "He can sort it out. He joined the Forces, it's his problem. You'll have to talk to the military. We don't know anything about it."
Bartlam, who was on leave, was arrested a few hours after leaving a roll of film at Max Spielmann developers in Tamworth, Staffs.
Staff at the shop became concerned at the film's content and called the police, before phoning Bartlam at his home asking him to come in.
When he arrived he was arrested by three Ministry of Defence officials who took him, and the developed pictures, away.
The photograph of the alleged PoW, which appears to have been taken in southern Iraq, shows him bound and gagged and hung from a net on a forklift truck being driven by another British soldier.
Others pictures from the film are alleged to show soldiers committing sex acts near captured Iraqis. If they are found to be genuine, the incident could breach the Geneva Convention.
A senior defence source said: "We had hoped at first it was a hoax, but that is looking less and less likely.
"If it is true we are absolutely appalled and the likelihood is that those responsible will be jailed and then thrown out." The fusilier lives with his parents in the village of Polesworth, Staffs. Their house is part-converted into a general store called Maggies.
Bartlam attended the local secondary school and joined the Army after working as a lifeguard at the Peaks leisure centre in Tamworth.
His regiment is based in Celle, Germany, and he was stationed in Iraq as part of the peace-keeping force, although he saw action in Basra.
Shortly before he flew home from Iraq, his father said: "We were concerned when he was involved in some of the front-line action in Basra but we are very proud of him and his achievements."
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "We confirm an investigation is under way into allegations of photos depicting maltreatment of Iraqi PoWs.
"We cannot comment further. But if there is any truth in these allegations the MoD is appalled."
He added: "We take responsibility to PoWs very seriously."
A spokesman for Max Spielmann said: "Staff processed the film on site. They became concerned about its content and contacted the police. It is now a police matter."