Germany says officers knew of Afghan skull photos

BERLIN, Nov 14 (Reuters) Two officers knew about photographs of German soldiers posing with human skulls in Afghanistan before they were published in a newspaper last month, the Defence Ministry said.

Previously, officials had said there was no evidence that high-ranking soldiers had prior knowledge of the photographs, which have sparked outrage in Germany.

A senior doctor became aware of pictures, taken in March 2004, and informed a fellow officer, a senior lieutenant, a ministry spokesman told reporters.

He in turn passed them on to the leader of the patrol who made clear such behaviour was unacceptable and said the pictures should not be handed around.

''The two (officers) involved behaved correctly,'' said the spokesman yesterday, although he added that in retrospect it might have been more sensible to take disciplinary action.

Last month, top-selling Bild newspaper printed pictures of German soldiers in Afghanistan posing with human remains, including skulls.

Further images followed, including one photograph purporting to show a German soldier carrying out a mock execution of a skeleton assembled from various human remains.

The Defence Ministry launched an investigation as the emergence of more pictures raised fears that the problem was more than an isolated incident. The spokesman said 5,000 soldiers have been questioned.

Top politicians, including Chancellor Angela Merkel, have described the troops' behaviour as inexcusable and vowed to punish those involved.

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