Officer tells of Iraq priority: secure oil

 MSO

A former senior British army officer has told an inquiry into abuses by British forces in Iraq that his main priority had been to secure the country's oil infrastructure.

Lieutenant General Robin Brims, the former general officer commanding of 1 Armoured Division, made the comment during testimony to the Baha Mousa inquiry in London.

Mr Mousa was beaten and kicked to death by British troops in September 2003 while in custody at BG Main detention facility. The inquiry has heard numerous accounts of how Mr Mousa was abused for 36 hours and kept hooded for up to 24 hours, despite this being officially recognised as inhumane treatment.

Lt Gen Brims was summoned to the inquiry to answer questions about an order he issued banning the practice of hooding prisoners of war and detainees some months before Mr Mousa's arrest and subsequent death.

Gerard Elias QC, counsel for the inquiry, asked Lt Gen Brims if he was aware that troops were apparently under the impression it was "a standard operating procedure to hood prisoners at the point of capture."

The officer responded: "I didn't know at the time, I now know it, yes."

He also told the inquiry that he gave an oral order to ban hooding in April 2003 after witnessing such an incident at Umm Qasr detention centre.

Mr Elias put it to him: "It would have been desirable, wouldn't it, that the order should have been cascaded down clearly and therefore desirable in writing."

Lt Gen Brims said that at the time he had not seen it as a priority.

When later asked what his priority had been at that time he said it had been to "secure the flank" as US forces moved north and "secure the oil infrastructure."

The inquiry also heard evidence from former secretary of state for defence Geoff Hoon.

In a statement to the inquiry Mr Hoon said he had been unaware that hooding was being used by troops until after Baha Mousa's death. He further said that it had been former armed forces minister Adam Ingram who dealt with issues such as the proper treatment of prisoners of war and detainees in Iraq.

Mr Hoon said Mr Mousa's death had resulted in a number of questions that had to be answered.

"Why was this man hooded for so long? What were the circumstances? Why was hooding being used? Was it being used for purposes that were for example unlawful?" he asked.

The former minister also said he "did not recall being aware of" a review of interrogation and questioning practices or that the International Committee of the Red Cross had expressed concerns over the use of hooding.