Blair condemns 'shocking' abuse pictures

The prime minister has described as "shocking and appalling" the pictures of UK troops abusing Iraqis.

Speaking in the Commons on Wednesday, Tony Blair insisted the military would "investigate fully" the evidence that had come to light and prosecute any soldier found guilty of wrongdoing.

The government was severely embarrassed by the release on Tuesday of 22 photographs showing alleged abuse of Iraqis by British forces at an aid camp in Basra.

Three soldiers are facing a court martial in the German city of Osnabruck over the claims, with two of the men pleading not guilty and one admitting to one charge of assault.

The release of the images, showing attacks and simulated sex acts, threatens to damage the Army's reputation in Iraq and the wider world and gain support for insurgents.

But Blair said British troops had brought "distinction, courage and great honour to this country". 

And he argued that under the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq, abuse would have gone unpunished.

"The difference between democracy and tyranny is not that in a democracy bad things don't happen, it is that in a democracy they are brought to justice," he told MPs.

Conservative leader Michael Howard said the pictures "bring shame on our country".

But the images "in no way reflect on the true character of our armed forces" the Opposition leader added.

Reviving memories of the Abu Ghraib scandal in a US jail in Iraq, they could also hit the government at home.

Army chief General Sir Mike Jackson said that Britain "condemned utterly" all abuse.

But he stressed the case was ongoing and that it involved a "very small number" of the 65,000 UK troops who have served in Iraq.

However the Liberal Democrats said the public would be dismayed.

"These pictures will inevitably open old wounds and be part of drawing parallels with Abu Ghraib," foreign affairs spokesman Sir Menzies Campbell said.

Troop levels

Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy pressed the prime minister for an assessment of the impact the prisoner abuse photos would have on the safety of British troops based in Iraq and whether there may be a need for additional troops to go in.

The prime minister replied: "The additional deployment for the purposes of the election is satisfactory and I'm not aware of any request for additional troops.

"I think and hope that people in Iraq do understand that the very fact that we are taking this action and prosecuting people who we believe may have been guilty of offences in the case that we do not tolerate this type of activity in any shape or form at all.

"Everybody I have spoken to on my visits to Basra have paid tribute to the work that the British armed forces are doing.

"In the next few weeks the Iraqis themselves are going to have the chance to take part in their first ever democratic elections, millions of them want to take part and I'm sure will take part.  And they are only able to do that in part, because of the courage of the British soldiers remaining in Iraq helping them to reach that state of democracy that they want to reach."

Kennedy went on to query the phased withdrawal over the coming months of Dutch, Czech and Portuguese troops from Iraq and asked whether this would mean more British troops would need to be sent out after the elections to plug the gaps.

Blair insisted that "there aren't plans to expand the British contribution".

"It's correct that some of those countries that have a time limited commitment to Iraq and will withdraw their troops at a certain point after the election process, but at the same time the Iraqis own capability is being increased the entire time," he said.

"The whole point is that we do not want to stay a moment longer than we need to, the Iraqi people do not want us to stay a moment longer than we need to so it's a question of staying until their capability is sufficiently robust that the Iraqis can look after their own security."