'The British don't bother to guard my daughter'

A year after starting as an interpreter with the British Army in Basra, Hula was dead. She was raped and beheaded, her corpse dumped in a nondescript, rubbish-strewn part of the city.

The 24-year-old, a recent graduate in English, signed up in 2004 for a job that would put her in the firing line alongside British troops. It would also make her a prime target for the ruthless, powerful militias who would come to control the streets. "We knew she was taking a big risk," her father, Abu Ali, told The Independent on Sunday. The taxi driver asked that neither his nor his daughter's full names be revealed, fearing his seven remaining children are still under threat.

Hula worked on a base in the al-Ashar neighbourhood of central Basra, but spoke little about her job, on British orders. Some of the soldiers treated her kindly, she said. "She once mentioned others were disrespectful, but I don't think she wanted to upset us with details," said her father.

One day she didn't come home, and the police found her mutilated and violated body. "I can't understand it," Abu Ali said. "Islam forbids these atrocities, but some men who claim to be Muslims did that to my daughter."

He is also angry with the British. "They didn't kill her, but they played their part," he said. "They didn't bother to guard a young woman who was helping them. What kind of soldiers are they?"

There was no meaningful investigation into the killing, and no one from the British Army made contact with the family over the death, according to Abu Ali. "Since she was killed I've had notes on my door, saying my daughter was a whore working for the occupier," he said. "Some people say she got what she deserved."

In common with other interpreters and their families, he has not filed an asylum application. "How do I do that?" he asked. "I can't even get on to a British base, I don't have any paperwork proving what she did. My daughter gave the British her life. I now think they owe my other daughters and my sons safety."