Doubts had been cast on whether the Mirror's photographs of UK soldiers abusing captives were genuine.

But the paper stepped up its allegations on Monday, saying it had been told that "literally hundreds of pictures" of physical abuse had been taken.

"The Daily Mirror makes no apology for exposing this outrageous and unlawful behaviour, which has been common knowledge among disgusted British servicemen in Basra for many months," said a statement from editor Piers Morgan.

Foreign secretary Jack Straw told the BBC the scenes in the photos were "terrible" and accepted that the UK could face obligations to pay compensation.