The Ministry of Defence is considering releasing images of British troops torturing Iraq prisoners.

The photos, which could become public during the soldiers' courts martial, are purported to show Iraqi inmates being forced to perform sexual acts on each other and a naked prisoner, bound and gagged, suspended in a net from a forklift truck.

Liberal Democrat defence spokesman Paul Keetch called for the identity of the abused Iraqis to be concealed.

"We need transparency but we need to protect the identity of these Iraqis subjected to such humiliation," he said.

"We would want their faces concealed if photos are published."