The soldiers from 156 Provost Company had been ordered to the area as part of an operation to help train recruits for the new Iraqi police force.
Colonel Thomas A Beckett, the officer in command of the redcaps, denied claims by the families that the men had been sent into a volatile “powder keg” as part of an “impossible and impracticable task”. Equipped with only 50 rounds of ammunition each, and no satellite radio with which to call for help, the men were overrun by a mob of more than 600 armed Iraqis as they tried to defend themselves at Majar al-Kabir police station on 24 June 2003. Shadow home secretary David Davis has previously written to Home Secretary Charles Clarke attacking the “unconscionable” delay in making arrests.. An inquest into the deaths of six military policemen in Iraq opened yesterday amid claims from relatives that they were sent to their deaths by the “cavalier attitude” of senior officers. During the spontaneous February 3 march from the Central London Mosque to the Danish Embassy protesters praised the “magnificent” 9/11 hijackers and waved placards with messages such as “Massacre those who insult Islam”, “Europe you will pay” and “Europe you’ll come crawling when Mujahideen come roaring”. He was not charged with any offences but was returned to jail for breaching the terms of his parole for possessing crack cocaine with intent to supply. Up to now, the only arrest had been that of Omar Khayam, a 22-year-old protester who dressed as a suicide bomber during the second day of demonstrations.

Police later handed a file to the Crown Prosecution Service and were advised there were “sufficient grounds” for prosecutions. To date 22 people have been considered for prosecution and police are trying to identify all of them. The material includes 60 hours of video footage from CCTV cameras There were also 500 complaints about the demonstration. They are alleged to have taken part in the February 3 demonstration. A Scotland Yard team has been studying video, photographs and sound recordings of the February 3 demonstration. They were taken to a central London police station for questioning A fifth man is being questioned in the West Midlands. Four of the men arrested today were held in London and one in the West Midlands.

The four men in London were arrested at their homes in Tower Hamlets, Redbridge, Southall and Waltham Forest. Four of them were held on suspicion of incitement to murder and all five are suspected of “using threatening words or written material to stir up racial hatred”.
It follows protests outside the Danish Embassy in London on February 3 and 4 when placards threatening a repeat of the September 11 or July 7 terror attacks were waved. Five men were arrested today over their alleged role in protests against cartoons satirising the Prophet Mohammed. “Secondly, as from May 2003, the multi-national force in Iraq was present in that jurisdiction at the request of the provisional government and present under the authority of the UN security council to assist in restoring peace and stability in Iraq and to assist in the move to a democratic government.”.

He said: “Firstly, the international customary war crime of aggression is not an offence in domestic law. Mr Perry said: “To suggest that sending a member of the armed forces for pistol training is in some way unlawful would be an astonishing if not startling conclusion.” He added that the international war crime of aggression was not relevant to the case as the charges relate to the period of May to July last year. He is also charged with failing to attend a deployment briefing at RAF Lyneham on June 30, 2005, and failing to comply with an order to replace a squadron leader for Operation Telic in Basra, Iraq, by July 12, 2005. The defendant faces charges that he failed to comply with an order on June 1, 2005, to attend RAF Kinloss for pistol and rifle training, failed on June 6, 2005, to attend a helmet fitting and between June 12 and 24, 2005, failed to attend a training course. David Perry, prosecuting, said the questions surrounding the legality of the invasion of Iraq were irrelevant as the case centred solely around the orders given to Kendall-Smith.