The Ministry of Defence has confirmed that charges against five Iraqis accused of murdering six British Royal Military Police officers in 2003 have been dropped. Armed forces minister Nick Harvey informed the victims' families that an Iraqi judge ruled the five suspects had no case to answer.
Two remaining suspects are expected to face trial, pending confirmation of the identity of one. The Red Caps were killed in June 2003 when a mob of around 400 Iraqis attacked a police station in Majar al-Kabir, north of Basra.
The victims were Sergeant Simon Hamilton-Jewell, 41; Corporal Russell Aston, 30; Corporal Paul Long, 24; Lance Corporal Benjamin McGowan Hyde, 23; Lance Corporal Tom Keys, 20; and Corporal Simon Miller, 21. Their families have long campaigned for justice.
Arrest warrants were issued by a Baghdad court in February 2006, but progress was slow. In January 2008, Iraqi interior minister Jawad al-Boulani pledged to pursue the killers after a letter from three families. An MoD spokesman reiterated the UK government's commitment to bringing the killers to justice.
