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From today’s Times:

A man said to have been an interpreter for the British Army in Basra has been killed by militia gunmen on the very day that his wife learnt she was pregnant with their first child.

Nine or ten masked men went to the home of Moayed Ahmed Khalaf in the al-Hayaniah district of Basra and beat him in front of his wife and mother, four sources told The Times. They then dragged him away, telling the frantic women that they would bring him back shortly. Khalaf’s body was found on Al Qa’ed Street later that night. He had been shot multiple times, according to Colonel Ali Manshed, commander of the Shatt-al-Arab police station.

A cousin, a close friend and two other interpreters all told The Times that Khalaf, 31, had worked for the British at their Basra airport base. Colonel Manshed said that everyone questioned by the police had said Khalaf was an interpreter, adding: “He was a good man, everyone liked him and there was no other reason to kill him.”

However Major Mike Shearer, a spokesman at the airport base, said that the army could find no record of Khalaf having worked for the army.

Here’s more links. A Radio 4 Fact The Facts documentary (RealPlayer required – a text transcript is here); a Facebook group.

I’m grateful again to my MP Celia Barlow, who has forwarded to me another response she’s had, this time from the Home Office. There’s no need to transcribe it because it is exactly the same as the responses received by Garry and Tim. Go see if you have a love of boilerplate.

(I have to add that, while I’ve had my reservations about Celia Barlow, on this matter she has been excellent. She has also said she will be attending the meeting on October 9.)

Hope to see you on October 9. If the Government would only get their act together, they could make the event redundant for any reason other than a celebratory drink.