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Baha Mousa 'killed after father saw soldiers stealing'
The Iraqi prisoner Baha Mousa was killed in a revenge attack by British troops because his father had seen soldiers stealing money from a hotel safe, a public inquiry was told today.
Baha Mousa's father, Daoud, claimed that his son - who suffered 93 separate injuries - had been picked out for particularly brutal treatment following his arrest because he had openly complained about the alleged theft to a British officer.
Giving evidence to the inquiry, Daoud Musa, a police officer in Basra, also said that his son's death certificate was changed at the last minute to admit he had been strangled. Mousa said he had refused to take away the body from a British camp because the document had initially stated the cause of death was a heart attack. The inquiry was shown a copy of the certificate with the word "asphyxia" added following the father's protests, signed by a Corporal Sharon Cooper.
Baha Mousa died on 15 September 2003 after being detained at the Ibn al-Haitham hotel in Basra,, where he worked as a receptionist, by troops from the Queen's Lancashire Regiment who said they were looking for weapons. A subsequent court martial in England resulted in the acquittal of six soldiers, including Colonel George Mendonca, the then commanding officer of the regiment which has since amalgamated.