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| Al-Sweady Inquiry: Iraq unlawful killings claims dropped | Al-Sweady Inquiry: Iraq unlawful killings claims dropped |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Claims UK soldiers unlawfully killed Iraqi civilians in 2004 have not been supported by evidence heard by a public inquiry into their deaths, lawyers for their families have said. | |
| They told the Al-Sweady Inquiry there was "insufficient material" to support the allegations, but added they intended to pursue mistreatment claims. | They told the Al-Sweady Inquiry there was "insufficient material" to support the allegations, but added they intended to pursue mistreatment claims. |
| The inquiry, set up in 2009, has cost more than £22m to date. | The inquiry, set up in 2009, has cost more than £22m to date. |
| Inquiry chairman Sir Thayne Forbes praised the lawyers for their courage. | |
| Speaking on the last full day of evidence, Public Interest Lawyers (PIL) said they had arrived at their decision following "the conclusion of the military evidence and the current state of disclosure by the Ministry of Defence". | |
| 'Simple objective' | |
| The inquiry has sought to identify the events surrounding the deaths of allegedly more than 20 Iraqi men. | |
| It has been concerned with the Battle of Danny Boy - named after a British checkpoint near the town of Majar al-Kabir in southern Iraq in May 2004, during the Iraq war. | |
| Iraqi insurgents ambushed soldiers, leading to a three-hour firefight which included the use of bayonets. | |
| The allegations have centred on whether or not Iraqis then taken from the battlefield were dead or alive. | |
| Lawyers acting for several Iraqi clients claimed some were mistreated and unlawfully killed at Camp Abu Naji and Shaibah Logistics Base. | |
| The MoD, British troops and their lawyers have vigorously denied the claims, saying those who died were killed on the battlefield. | |
| 'Commended for courage' | |
| John Dickinson, of PIL, said in a statement: "From the outset the families have had the simple objective of discovering the extent of any wrongdoing and, if so, how it came about and who was responsible. | |
| "It is accepted that on the material which has been disclosed to date there is insufficient evidence to support a finding of unlawful killing in Camp Abu Naji." | |
| Sir Thayne is due to release his final inquiry report in November. | |
| He said: "You and your team are to be commended for the courage that you have displayed in making this statement at the stage that you did." | |
| The inquiry has been sitting for 42 weeks and has heard evidence from a total of 281 witnesses. | |
| The Al-Sweady inquiry is named after one of the Iraqi men, 19-year-old Hamid al-Sweady, who was alleged to have been unlawfully killed while being held following the battle. |