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ICC says 'reasonable basis' to war crimes allegations by UK soldiers

The International Criminal Court in the Hague on Monday said there was a "reasonable basis" to allegations of war crimes committed by UK troops against detainees in Iraq. 

The announcement, which came as a 74 page report was delivered to the ICC's annual assembly of states in New York. 

“The [prosecutor’s] office has reached the conclusion that there is a reasonable basis to believe that members of the UK armed forces committed war crimes within the jurisdiction of the court against persons in their custody," the ICC's chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda said, dismissing allegations of any war crimes being committed on the battlefield however. 

"In the absence of information indicating intent to kill or target civilians or civilian objects, or cause clearly excessive civilian injuries, there is no reasonable basis to believe that war crimes within the jurisdiction of the court were committed by British armed forces in the course of their military operations not related to the context of arrests and detentions," the report noted. 

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