The Times October 17, 2005
By Michael Evans, Defence Editor
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0%2C%2C2-1829648%2C00.html
THE British military officer in charge of all investigations against troops serving in Iraq has been found dead in his accommodation block in Basra. He is believed to have taken his own life.
Captain Ken Masters, 40, commanding officer of 61 Section of the Royal Military Police Special Investigations Branch (SIB), had been under pressure to bring to a conclusion a number of allegations relating to incidents in which Iraqi civilians had been killed.
The Royal Military Police has been working at full stretch to complete investigations after claims against British troops ranging from fatal shootings of civilians to abuse of prisoners. Captain Masters’s biggest current investigation was ordered after the incident on September 19 when two SAS troopers had to be rescued by British troops in armoured vehicles after they had been arrested by Iraqi police. During a day of violent confrontations, the Iraqi authorities in Basra claimed that seven Iraqis were killed and 43 injured, many of them police.
The two SAS men had been engaged in undercover surveillance of several senior Iraqi police officers who were suspected of being behind a series of attacks on British troops.
(In a car packed with explosives and also a remote detonation-device? – JAH.)
Compensation to the families of alleged Iraqi victims who died during the fracas depended on the official investigation being carried out by Captain Masters and his team.
Captain Masters was married with two children.
Defence sources said there were no suspicious circumstances, but a post-mortem examination would be held.
Senior military investigator found dead in Iraq
By Kim Sengupta in Basra
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article320111.ece
from The Independent & The Independent on Sunday
Published: 17 October 2005
A senior British military police officer in Iraq involved in the investigation of alleged abuse of Iraqi civilians by soldiers has been found dead at a camp in Basra.
The body of Captain Ken Masters, the commander of 61 Section of the Special Investigations Branch (SIB), was found in his bed at the airport at the weekend. The death is being investigated by the SIB.
Defence sources said the death was "not due to hostile action and also not due to natural causes".
However, it is believed that investigators have not found a suicide note, nor firearms related to the incident. Capt Masters was not receiving any medical or psychological treatment.
Friends and colleagues of Captain Masters, who was married with two children, said that his death had come as a "total surprise".
After his body was found early on Saturday evening a siren sounded over Basra camp, flares were fired in the air, and all military personnel were confined to barracks .
Despite being of middle-rank, Captain Masters was in charge of all serious incidents involving the British military in Iraq.
It was not immediately known which particular cases he had been personally involved in investigating. The British military is, however, looking into several dozen cases.
Seven members of the Parachute Regiment are on trial for the murder of an Iraqi teenager, Nadhem Abdullah.
Several Fusiliers have been convicted at a court martial in Osnabrück, Germany, of abusing civilians and photographing the acts.
Some soldiers have been charged in relation to the death of a hotel receptionist, Baha Musa.
A spokesman for the British forces in Basra said: "The commanding officer of 61 Section, Special Investigations Branch, Capt Ken Masters, was found dead last night at a military establishment in Iraq.
"The matter is now under investigation and until this is completed it will be inappropriate for me to make any further comment. It was not due to any hostile action. It was not down to natural causes."
A military source said "This has come as shock to us. Ken was not suffering from depression or anything that indicated that he would take his own life."
A senior British military police officer in Iraq involved in the investigation of alleged abuse of Iraqi civilians by soldiers has been found dead at a camp in Basra.
The body of Captain Ken Masters, the commander of 61 Section of the Special Investigations Branch (SIB), was found in his bed at the airport at the weekend. The death is being investigated by the SIB.
© 2005 Independent News & Media (UK) Ltd.
Also see False-flag operations in Iraq
