Despite Political Pressure, the Mirror Defends Torture Pics

http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,14173,1209270,00.html

"I stand by story," says Morgan

Claire Cozens
Tuesday May 4, 2004

Morgan: 'quite happy' to be questioned by military police

Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan said today he stood by "everything we have published" on the alleged torture of Iraqi prisoners by British soldiers and promised to cooperate fully with an army investigation into the explosive claims, although he denied he had been asked to give evidence.

Morgan said he would be "quite happy" to be questioned by the Royal Military Police, which has so far asked only to speak to the two reporters who worked on the controversial story, but had not been approached to give evidence personally.

And he dismissed scepticism over the authenticity of photographs published by the Mirror that apparently showed soldiers from the Queen's Lancashire Regiment mistreating an Iraqi prisoner.

"The military police have asked to speak to several of our journalists today, which we have agreed to, as part of their investigation. But they haven't asked to talk to me, although I am quite happy to if they change their minds," he told MediaGuardian.co.uk.

"We stand completely by everything we have published and have read nothing which changes that view at all."

Several media organisations have given prominent coverage to the doubts expressed by military sources about the authenticity of the photographs, which appeared in the Mirror on Saturday.

The front page of today's Daily Express carries the headline "Liars" above a story describing the pictures as fake, while the BBC has been reporting doubts about the photographs' authenticity.

But Morgan, whose reputation as an editor would suffer irreparable damage if the photographs turned out not to be genuine, dismissed the claims.

"As for the attacks on us in papers like the Express, being called a liar by that lot is like being called a halfwit by the village idiot... a crushing blow but you get on with the day as best you can," he said.

The reporter who broke the story, Paul Byrne, works in the paper's Oldham office where the investigation into the torture allegations took place, and is likely to be among those questioned by military police.

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