UK soldier
© Ian Hodgson / Reuters
There is a "reasonable basis" to believe that British soldiers committed war crimes against detainees during the Iraq conflict between 2004 and 2008, the International Criminal Court's (ICC) chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, has revealed.

The Hague-based ICC presented a 74-page report on preliminary inquiries to the annual assembly of states parties, which participate in the jurisdiction of the court, on Monday, in New York.

Bensouda said that following a thorough factual and legal assessment of the available information, the prosecutor's office believes "that there is reasonable basis to believe" that members of the UK armed forces "committed war crimes" against persons in their custody and thus related "to the context of arrests and detentions." British troops have not been involved in war crimes on the battlefield, the report noted, however.