The editor of The Daily Mirror, Piers Morgan, who published photos that the paper contended were of a hooded Iraqi man being beaten, kicked and urinated on by British soldiers, was dismissed Friday by the board of directors of Trinity Mirror, the newspaper's owner.
The firing came a day after a government investigation concluded that the pictures had been faked. It also followed calls from members of Parliament and military veterans groups for Morgan to take responsibility for the hoax.
PHOTO: EPA
In a statement, the Trinity Mirror board said the newspaper had "published in good faith photographs which it absolutely believed were genuine images of British soldiers abusing an Iraqi prisoner."
"However," the statement said, "there is now sufficient evidence to suggest that these pictures are fakes and that The Daily Mirror has been the subject of a calculated and malicious hoax."
The tabloid has a daily circulation of about 2 million.
The board members apologized "unreservedly" for the damage done to the reputation of the Queens Lancashire Regiment, whose soldiers were implicated by the sensational Mirror report on May 1 that included the photographs. Of Morgan, the board members said, "It would be inappropriate for Piers Morgan to continue in his role as editor," adding that he would "therefore be stepping down with immediate effect."
A spokesman for Prime Minister Tony Blair said he had no comment about the Mirror's retraction and the dismissal of its editor, which vindicated to some extent the government's claim that there had been no "systematic" abuse of prisoners by British forces in Iraq and that the British military police had vigorously investigated claims of abuse where they had arisen.
Roger Goodman, a spokesman for the Queens Lancashire Regiment, told the BBC on Friday evening that Morgan had "taken the only honorable course left open" after the unit had compiled significant evidence that the photos published by the Mirror had in fact been taken in the back of a truck on an army base in England.
"It's just a great pity that it has taken so long to reach this point, and after all the damage that has been done in the meantime," Goodman said.
But vindication in the episode has not removed the cloud over the regiment.
The special investigation branch of the Royal Military Police is reported to be close to recommending the prosecution of several soldiers who have been accused of brutalizing eight Iraqi detainees arrested at a hotel in Basra last September. One of the prisoners, Baha Mousa, 26, a hotel clerk, died from his injuries after an all-night interrogation session.
The Danish Defense Ministry said Thursday that two Danish army medics had belatedly reported witnessing the effects of "brutal treatment" of two Iraqi prisoners in southern Iraq at the hands of British forces. The medics were reported to have said that one of the Iraqis died from his injuries.
On Friday, Britain's Defense Ministry said it believed that the medics were referring to the Mousa case, which is already under investigation.
"We have been in touch with Danish officials to clarify the situation," a Defense Ministry official said.
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