UK Iraq abuse - No Action Against Officers

MoD Oracle: The army officer who devised Operation Ali Baba, the plan to round up looters at a British camp in southern Iraq, will not be disciplined, Ministry of Defence officials said yesterday.

But pressure on the ministry to fully explain the alleged ill-treatment of Iraqis grew.

Major Dan Taylor, who was in charge of the humanitarian aid base Camp Breadbasket, near Basra, told soldiers there to catch the looters who had been stealing food and "work them hard".

Lieutenant Colonel Nick Clapham, the main prosecutor, said Major Taylor's order was unlawful. Link