The British Ministry of Defence is to pay compensation to a group of Iraqis who were allegedly "beaten" by British soldiers during a raid.
A spokeswoman for the MoD said it would be making ex-gratiapayments to 11 Iraqis who were detained in the raid in the southern Iraqi town of al Majar al-Kabir.
However, the spokesman said the payments did not mean the MoD accepted reported allegations that SAS soldiers had kicked and beaten the men during the operation to track down the killers of six Royal Military Police officers.
"We are going to make ex-gratia payments to the men. They were innocent, we have released them and sent a letter of apology," the spokesman said.
"Some people received minor injuries, but that is part of the nature of this kind of operation."
The payments would be in the region of hundreds of dollars, and there was not likely to be any further investigation into the matter, the spokesman added.
"I am not aware of any further investigations at this stage," he said.
The alleged incident took place in an attempt to track down the killers of six Royal Military Police officers who died after they were besieged by a mob at the town's police station in June.
It was reported that the army has offered its "humblest apologies" in an open letter to the town.
AP