Iraqi authorities have arrested eight Iraqi’s for the murder of six British Royal Military Police in 2003, the BBC reports. The Red Caps, as they are called, were killed by a mob in southern Iraq while on a routine mission to train local police. Tribal elders in the area were reportedly “disgusted” by the scene and gave over names of some of the men involved and members of the local population apparently came forward shortly after the killings as well.
The case caused a stir when the British authorities turned over the investigation and all their information to the Iraqi Government. Since 2006, the Iraqis have issued a total of 16 arrest warrants related to the killings with 11 people detained and 3 released due to lack of evidence or mistaken identity. This case has see by some as a bell weather for the motivation and competance of the Iraqi Government to prosecute crimes such as this. It has been asserted that the United States and British special forces aided the Iraqis in tracking down the suspects.
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