Basra - No apology or compensation but plenty of sweets

Picture shows British soldier with sweets for Basra school children - proving beyond any doubt that we are the good guys.

Guardian: Britain refuses apology and compensation for Iraqis caught up in Basra riots

British officials in Iraq have ruled out an apology for the mission to rescue two undercover soldiers from a Basra police station last week, saying police in Iraq's second city had disobeyed orders from their bosses in Baghdad.

"An apology to the police or the government would not be appropriate because there were orders to the Basra police from the interior ministry to release the two soldiers and they didn't obey," Karen McLuskie, a British diplomat in Basra, told the Guardian. "Our people were considered to be in danger and our actions were justified."

She said there were no special plans for compensating the relatives of the four Iraqis killed and the 44 injured in violence surrounding the raid last Monday.

"Any citizen who was hurt can apply for compensation in the same way as if they had been hit by an army Humvee or truck," said Ms McLuskie. There were no plans to help rebuild the police station. Read more