SAS 'beat Iraqi policemen with rifles in hunt for Red Caps killers'... and here is their commander disguised as one of the dead men's colleagues to find the mob behind the massacre



The Special Air Service is under investigation after claims that its soldiers tortured Iraqi policemen during a top-secret mission.

The alleged abuses were said to have happened on an operation to discover who murdered six Royal Military policemen – or Red Caps.

Six days after the Red Caps were executed by ringleaders of a mob in southern Iraq, SAS soldiers visited the police station where the killings took place.

Undercover: SAS Colonel Richard William, right, posing as a Red Cap at Marjar Al Kabir

It is claimed they beat the Iraqi policemen with rifles, punched and hooded them, banged their heads against walls and forced them to maintain stress positions.

Former SAS Commanding Officer Colonel Richard Williams is among 40 troops under investigation about the allegations of brutality.

His soldiers face charges of actual bodily harm and grievous bodily harm. If found guilty, they could be jailed.

The revelations follow the charging last month of five Royal Marines with the murder of a Taliban gunman in Afghanistan in 2011.

Four Iraqi policemen claim they needed hospital treatment after their ordeal at the hands of SAS soldiers at the police station in Majar al-Kabir and are demanding compensation.

Within hours of the Red Caps' murders on June 24, 2003, Colonel Williams, 46, flew from the SAS Baghdad headquarters on an undercover operation to capture their killers.

As part of his plan, Col Williams and his SAS soldiers removed any clothing identifying them as Special Forces and put on desert camouflage uniforms and berets associated with the Red Caps.

Killing site: The exterior of the police station at Majjar where the Red Caps were murdered, southeast of Baghdad

This tactic was intended to convince the Iraqi policemen that they were friends of the murdered Red Caps and get their co-operation.

The Mail on Sunday has obtained a photograph of Col Williams standing by the police station dressed as a Red Cap. The giveaway to his identity is the Diemaco C8 carbine assault rifle in his right hand – a weapon issued to SAS soldiers but not to military policemen.

A source said: 'Operation Jocal, as the mission was codenamed, involved two visits to the police station, on June 28 and 30, 2003. The allegations relate to the second visit when the Iraqi policemen were not answering questions put to them.



'The SAS knew they were racing against time to learn the identities of the Red Caps' murderers. For whatever reason the Iraqi policemen wouldn't or couldn't tell the soldiers who was responsible.'

That meant Col Williams and his SAS soldiers were unable to capture the Red Caps' murderers. To date no Iraqis have been convicted of the killings.

Williams was later promoted to the position of Commanding Officer of the SAS, leading the regiment on a successful operation to eliminate the leadership of Al Qaeda-Iraq (AQ-I).

He retired from Special Forces and now works in Afghanistan's mining industry. He declined to comment on the MoD Police investigation.

Executed: The six Red Caps who were executed by ringleaders of a mob in Southern Iraq include Sergeant Simon Alexander Hamilton-Jewell (left), from Chessington and Corporal Russell Aston, from Swadlincote



Killed: The Special Air Service is under investigation after claims that its soldiers tortured Iraqi policemen during a top-secret mission to find out who murdered the six Red Caps including Corporal Paul Long (left), from Colchester and Corporal Simon Miller (right), from Washington, Tyne and Wear



Alleged abuse: The Special Air Service allegedly beat Iraqi policemen with rifles while trying to find out who killed the Royal Military policemen including Lance-Corporal Benjamin John McGowan Hyde (left), from Northallerton and Lance-Corporal Tom Keys (right), from Bala



MoD detectives have already interviewed senior officers from other British units present on June 30, 2003. Colonel Tom Beckett, Commanding Officer of 1st Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (1 Para), has told police that his soldiers stayed out of the police station.

The four Iraqi policemen seeking compensation are Ali Hamid Lazim, Haidar Mohammad, Mohammed Zboon and Mustafa Jbara.

Ali Lazim said SAS soldiers made him squat with his hands on his head. 'It was hot, I was sweating and I couldn't balance well. I accidentally fell back and put my hand on the floor,' he said.

'A soldier came and hit me hard behind the ear. I tried to look around and a soldier kicked me on the lower back. I couldn't control myself. I was so scared. I thought I was never going to see my family and children again.'

The claims were slammed last night by Reg Keys, whose son Lance Corporal Tom Keys was one of the Red Caps murdered.

He said: 'I have no sympathy. The Iraqi policemen legged it as soon as they saw the danger that day, abandoning the lads.

'So they have a damned cheek looking for compensation nine years later.'

A trial of two men suspected of killing the Red Caps collapsed in Baghdad last year when five eyewitnesses refused to give evidence.

An MoD spokesman said: 'Allegations were made by four Iraqi nationals that they were subjected to physical abuse by British soldiers in June 2003.