LONDON — The Daily Mirror newspaper apologized Friday for publishing fake photographs of alleged abuse of Iraqi prisoners by British forces, and the editor stepped down.
The move by the newspaper and its owners, Trinity Mirror PLC, came hours after commanders of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment bitterly denounced the pictures and said they had proof that the photos — said to be taken in Iraq — had been staged in Britain.
Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan had staunchly defended the photos, which caused an uproar when they were published on May 1. The government said Thursday that it had concluded the pictures, including one of a soldier allegedly urinating on a hooded prisoner, were fakes.
"The Daily Mirror published in good faith photographs which it absolutely believed were genuine images of British soldiers abusing an Iraqi prisoner," the newspaper said.
"However, there is now sufficient evidence to suggest that these pictures are fakes and that the Daily Mirror has been the subject of a calculated and malicious hoax."
The regiment's commander said Friday it had conclusive evidence that a truck seen in the photos had never been in Iraq — where the Daily Mirror had claimed the photos were taken.
The newspaper said it would be "inappropriate" for Morgan to continue as editor, and he had stepped down.
Earlier, Brig. Geoff Sheldon, colonel of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment, said the pictures had made Iraq more dangerous for British soldiers.
"We all know that those photographs are fakes; the time has come to do all we can to try and reduce the danger our soldiers are in by acknowledging that," Sheldon said.
The regiment showed reporters a replica of the rifle depicted in the Daily Mirror pictures and pointed out differences with the weapon its members carried during a six-month tour in Iraq last year. It also displayed a truck of the type that appeared in the photos and compared it with the trucks used in Iraq.
In a television interview, one of the Daily Mirror's sources, a man identified as "soldier C" and reportedly a member of the Lancashire regiment, said he saw prisoners beaten for fun. The man's face was not shown.
He is the only one of the Daily Mirror's sources who has spoken to military investigators, and does not claim to be a witness to the photos.
Sheldon said the regiment's soldiers detained 448 Iraqis during their time in the country and received complaints about only one incident, the death of Baha Mousa, an Iraqi hotel clerk.
He said that was "a terrible event that I bitterly and deeply regret," and that it was under investigation.
Denmark's defense ministry said Friday that two Danish army medics working in a British field hospital in southern Iraq last fall saw two Iraqis who were exposed to "brutal treatment," including one who allegedly died from his injuries.
The episode was reported Thursday to defense officials in Denmark by an army lawyer in Basra. According to her report, the two medics, who weren't identified, said they saw the two Iraqis brought to a British military hospital in Basra "after having been exposed to brutal treatment during an unauthorized interrogation in the field."
Britain's defense ministry said Thursday it believed the case referred to by the Danes was the Baha Mousa case. On Friday, the British ministry said it was not a new case.
Also Friday, Baha Mousa's father, Dawood Salim, told Al-Arabiya television that British troops offered him $3,000 in compensation for his son's death. British authorities have acknowledged the payment.