Five British soldiers cleared in Iraqi abuse trial

BULFORD, England, Feb 14 (Reuters) A British court martial dropped charges today against five of seven soldiers over the death of an Iraqi prisoner.

After a trial lasting nearly half a year, the judge ordered a military panel to acquit the five men, saying no evidence had been presented that could prove their guilt.

He ordered that further details of his reasons for dropping the charges not be published until after the trial of the other two, which continues next week.

The collapse of the prosecutors' case against the five -- before their lawyers even had to present a defence -- will add to the embarrassment of authorities, accused of botching abuse cases in Iraq.

The Ministry of Defence remained unabashed.

''All substantive allegations are thoroughly investigated. Where evidence is found to support prosecutions, as in this case, those involved will face appropriate actions,'' it said in a statement.

The trial is the last and longest of three high-profile cases against British soldiers over the deaths of Iraqi civilians. Both previous trials collapsed with no convictions.

At the outset of the current case, one soldier, Corporal Donald Payne, pleaded guilty to abusing prisoners, a war crime for which he has still to be sentenced.

HOTEL RECEPTIONIST But he was cleared today of charges of manslaughter in the death of Iraqi hotel receptionist Baha Musa, and of a charge of perverting the course of justice.

Musa died while Payne was restraining him when he tried to escape as a prisoner in Sept 2003. Post-mortems showed Musa had numerous injuries including cracked ribs.

During the trial, several other prisoners testified they had been held hooded and repeatedly beaten. But because they were hooded they never identified the soldiers who beat them.

The then commander of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment, Colonel Jorge Mendonca, was among the five men cleared today. He had been the most senior British officer to face court martial over allegations of prisoner abuse in Iraq.

''The Queen's Lancashires did enormous good in the city of Basra in 2003,'' he said outside the court. ''Every one of my soldiers and officers worked extremely hard under indescribably difficult conditions to make Basra a better place.'' ''I just hope that that fact isn't forgotten in the aftermath of this trial,'' he added.

Two soldiers, who supervised other soldiers who were holding prisoners, are still on trial for negligently performing a duty.

The collapse of the expensive court martial has embarrassed the authorities and brought criticism from both sides.

Rights groups and Iraqi families said Britain failed to bring soldiers to justice while senior retired British military officers complained prosecutors pursued cases too zealously.

Only one abuse trial against British troops has been successful -- three soldiers were jailed in 2005 after one took photographs of beatings and sexual abuse of detainees.

Reuters KR RN2121