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Iraq

Anger at terror suspects freed in Basra deal

2007-09-06

Yet more evidence that the UK is so much more sophisticated than the US in their handling of terrorists

THE capture and internment of a leading terror suspect was the only crumb of comfort for relatives of Corporal John Johnston Cosby when he was killed in Iraq just over a year ago.

Now the devastated family has been told that Sajad Abu Aya, whose arrest cost Cosby his life, has been released as a result of a deal to free prisoners prior to the imminent British withdrawal from Basra to a desert airbase outside. Cosby, 28, described as a monumental personality by his men, died commanding a security cordon protecting troops who were in the process of seizing Abu Aya in a northern suburb.

Lieutenant-Colonel Toffer Beattie, commanding officer of the Devon-shire and Dorset Light Infantry, said that Cosby, an expert in covert surveillance, had been leading from the front and he was putting the success of the mission and the safety of his men before his own.

His death devastated his family. But it had the consolation of knowing that he had died a soldiers death and that Abu Aya a militia leader suspected of several murderous attacks on British forces and Iraqis was in British hands.