Iraq: Several more Danish soldiers are under investigation for the suspected abuse of prisoners during interrogations at Camp Eden in southern Iraq, the Danish army said yesterday.
Former unit colleagues have already complained about the way one intelligence officer interrogated prisoners, the army said.
It said the officer was sent home last week while army staff were sent to examine the claims.
Two Danish newspapers yesterday identified the officer as a woman in her 30s. The Danish military declined to identify the soldier, but said several more personnel were now being investigated.
"The investigation is wider. Several more individuals are now being investigated," the armed forces spokesman, Mr Hans-Christian Mathiesen, said.
The investigation has sent shockwaves through Denmark, where most people support the centre-right government's backing of the US-led campaign in Iraq.
Although few details of the claims have been made public, the Defence Minister, Mr Soren Gade, told the media the mistreatment may have included denying prisoners water.
The Danish military also said yesterday that the investigation had been widened to cover a shooting incident, but would not elaborate.
Danish troops have been involved in several firefights with insurgents in Iraq, including one in August last year when two Iraqis were killed by Danish soldiers. There are about 500 Danish troops in Iraq.
The latest development emerged on the day a hearing starts in the US into whether military police officer Lynndie England should be tried on charges including prisoner abuse. - (Reuters)