London, July 13: Britain is beginning a public inquiry into the death of an Iraqi civilian beaten and killed in the custody of British troops.
Baha Mousa, 26, was working at a hotel in Basra that was raided by soldiers looking for weapons in September 2003.
He was taken to a British base where he sustained 93 injuries, including fractured ribs and a broken nose. An autopsy said he died of asphyxia, caused by a stress position that soldiers forced him to maintain.
Six soldiers were cleared of wrongdoing at a court martial in 2007. A seventh pleaded guilty to inhumanely treating Iraqi civilians.
The inquiry that begins Monday will look into Mousa’s death and into whether troops used banned techniques during interrogations. The inquiry is expected to last a year.
–Agencies—