UK military investigating 2003 Iraq abuse claim

British military police are investigating an abuse allegation after a newspaper reported an Iraqi youth claimed troops made him perform a sex act on another prisoner in 2003, the Ministry of Defence said on Sunday.

The Independent on Sunday said the youth claims he was forced to perform a sex act on another youth while the two were being held as suspected looters by British forces in May, 2003 at a base in southern Iraq called Camp Bread Basket.

Four British servicemen have already been jailed over photographs taken at the camp in the same month which showed troops beating prisoners who were tied up and forcing others to pose in sexually humiliating positions.

The Ministry of Defence said it had referred the latest allegation to the Royal Military Police.

"All but a handful of the more than 120,000 British troops who have served in Iraq have conducted themselves to the highest standards of behaviour, displaying integrity and selfless commitment," it said in a statement.

Britain has dealt with a number of cases of prisoner abuse in Iraq, nearly all stemming from the first year after the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

A British soldier pleaded guilty to abuse in the case of Baha Mousa, an Iraqi hotel receptionist beaten to death in September that year, but several other prosecutions have failed.

The Ministry of Defence agreed last week to pay 2.8 million pounds to the family of Mousa and other victims.