UK PM calls for limiting war legal claims
British Prime Minister David Cameron says he wants to stamp out what he called spurious legal claims against war veterans.
He said ministers had been asked to draw up plans to restrict claims, including by curbing financial incentives for "no win, no fee" cases.
The statements come as about 280 UK veterans are currently being investigated over alleged abuse by soldiers during the Iraq War.
Lawyers said no-one was above the law, and many abuse cases had been proven.
The Iraq Historic Allegations Team (IHAT) was established to investigate allegations of murder, abuse and torture against Iraqi civilians by UK military personnel between 2003 and 2009.
According to media reports, IHAT has considered at least 1,515 possible victims - of whom 280 are alleged to have been unlawfully killed - and lawyers are continuing to refer cases of alleged abuse. The head of the inquiry, Mark Warwick, has said there are "lots of significant cases" and that discussions would be held over whether they met a war crimes threshold.
Earlier, Cameron said he feared people were being "solicited by lawyers" enticing them into making accusations, and was concerned many of them were fabricated.
"Our armed forces are rightly held to the highest standards - but I want our troops to know that when they get home from action overseas this government will protect them from being hounded by lawyers over claims that are totally without foundation," Cameron said, adding he had ordered the National Security Council to produce "a comprehensive plan to stamp out this industry.
“It is very important that all forces should be responsible within the law,” a London-based political analyst Rodney Shakespeare told Press TV.
He said the UK society needs to uphold the principals of decent behavior adding this is disgraceful that the government is now putting heavy efforts into stopping the trend.
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