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British Chief Police Investigator in Basra dies under mysterious circumstances
He was responsible for the investigation into the two Elite SAS men disguised as Arab “terrorists”
by Michel Chossudovsky
Global Research, October 17, 2005
Captain Ken Masters, British chief police investigator in Basra died under mysterious circumstances. The cause of death was not mentioned. According to a Ministry of Defense spokesman, his death was “not due to hostile action” nor to natural causes.
Ken Masters was Commanding Officer of the Special Investigation Branch of the Royal Military Police. He was “responsible for the investigation of all in-theatre serious incidents, plus investigations conducted by the General Police Duties element of the Theatre Investigation Group.” (Statement of Britain’s Ministry of Defense, 16 Oct 2005).
In this capacity, Captain Masters was responsible for investigating the circumstances of the arrest of two undercover elite SAS men, wearing Arab clothing, by Iraqi police in Basra. on September 19 (London Times (17 Oct 2005)..
“The Ministry of Defence refused to reveal details about his [Masters] work but it is believed he was involved in the inquiry into the dramatic rescue of two SAS soldiers held in a prison in Basra.” (Daily Mail, 16 Oct 2005)
The two British undercover “soldiers”, who were driving a car loaded with weapons and ammunition, were subsequently “rescued” by British forces, in a major military assault on the building where they were being detained:
“British forces used up to 10 tanks ” supported by helicopters ” to smash through the walls of the jail and free the two British servicemen.”
The incident, which resulted in numerous civilian and police casualties has caused political embarrassment.
Several media reports and eyewitness accounts suggested that the SAS operatives were disguised as Al Qaeda “terrorists” and were planning to set off the bombs in Basra’s central square during a a major religious event.
On the 14th of October, Britain formally apologized to Iraq and confirmed that it “will pay compensation for injuries and damage caused during the storming by the army of a police station in Basra in the operation to release two SAS soldiers” (The Scotesman, 15 Oct 2005). In the British raid on the prison, 7 Iraqis were killed and 43 were injured .(The Times, op cit)
“Compensation to the families of alleged Iraqi victims who died during the fracas depended on the official investigation being carried out by Captain Masters and his team.” (ibid)
Captain Ken Masters died in Basra on the 15th. According to the MoD “the circumstances [of his death ] were not regarded as suspicious.”
The reports casually suggested that Masters might have been suffering from “stress”, which could have driven him to commit suicide. In the words of a Defense analyst quoted by the BBC:.
“Capt Masters was part of quite a small outfit and his job would have been quite stressful. It’s quite an onerous job….. I think, [there is] quite a lot of stress involved” (BBC, 16 October 2005).
The Daily Mail (17 Oct 2005), however, tends to dismiss the suicide thesis “Little is known of his private life and it is said to be unlikely that the pressures of work would have led him to commit suicide.”
British statements concerning the “rescue operation”
The attack on the 19th of September to “rescue” the two SAS men was launched under the command of Brig John Lorimer. In a statement, Lorimer said that the purpose of the raid was to ensure the safety of the two SAS men: .
“… I had good reason to believe that the lives of the two soldiers were at risk and troops were sent to the area of Basra near the police station to help ensure their safety. … “Later in the day, however, I became more concerned about the safety of the two soldiers after we received information that they had been handed over to militia elements. As a result I took the difficult decision to order entry to the Jamiat police station. By taking this action we were able to confirm that the soldiers were no longer being held by the IPS. An operation was then mounted to rescue them from a house in Basra.”
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=CHO20051017&articleId=1100
