Militia man held as PoW claims to be British citizen from Manchester

The British Army is investigating claims that a man from Manchester who was fighting for Saddam Hussein near Basra has been detained by British forces and is being held in a prisoner-of-war camp.

The man, believed to be in his mid-twenties but who has not been named, was caught on Sunday as he joined Iraqi militia in civilian clothes in an attack on British forces. He is being held at a camp to the south-west of Zubayr, near Basra.

A spokesman for the British Army in Iraq said that it was unaware of the detention of the alleged British citizen, but said the matter would be investigated. He added that even if the man was British, no information would be provided because he would be a PoW.

He is said to have told his captors that he went to Iraq to fight coalition forces, but now wants to return to England to be reunited with his family in Manchester. Army officers report that the man has been taunting soldiers, saying he intends to live on benefits when he returns to Britain and revelling in the fact that the Geneva Convention means his captors will be unable to punish him or prevent his return "home".

Corporal Jonathan Duffy, 21, of the 1st Battalion Irish Guards, questioned the man, believed to be Iraqi-born but claiming British citizenship, at the PoW camp and received a gloating, abusive, response.

"He was being very arrogant and offensive, swearing at everyone," said Cpl Duffy. "He said he had come out here to fight against coalition forces because he didn't believe in what we were doing. But when it came to it he didn't fight properly at all, he just surrendered. He was a coward."

Cpl Duffy, who is himself from Manchester, said the man had been quickly identified as a Briton because he was the only fluent English-speaker among Iraqi captives. "He had a Manchester accent so he stood out immediately ... It was a joke. He was calling us mugs. I think he should be shot and hung." If the man is confirmed to be a British citizen he will be entitled to return to the UK.

This is a pooled dispatch from Martin Bentham of 'The Sunday Telegraph', with the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, near Basra