US probes trainee soldier beating

Guantanamo detainees wear a distinctive orange jumpsuit

The US Army has opened an investigation into injuries suffered by a serviceman who was beaten up during A training exercise.

Sean Baker says he received injuries from fellow soldiers while posing as a detainee at the Guantanamo Bay camp for al-Qaeda and Taleban suspects.

He blames officers for the botched exercise, and says he suffers seizures as a result.

The army had previously said Mr Baker's injuries occurred in the line of duty.

Mr Baker, 37, was a member of a military police unit based in Kentucky when it deployed to Guantanamo Bay in 2003.

What happened to me is something that should never have happened to any American soldier Sean Baker

In January of that year he volunteered to act as an unco-operative detainee for training purposes and put on an orange prison jumpsuit.

He argues that other participants were not made aware that he was a soldier.

Discharged

During the exercise, Mr Baker says, military police choked him and slammed his head against the floor. Mr Baker says he told them he was a US soldier but the beatings continued until the jumpsuit was yanked down, revealing his uniform.

Mr Baker - who has complained of traumatic brain injury - was subsequently honourably discharged.

The army initially said the discharge was unrelated to the exercise, but later acknowledged the injuries sustained at the time had been a factor.

Mr Baker told the Los Angeles Times: "What happened to me is something that should never have happened to any American soldier."

In a letter to the army, Congressman Ben Chandler of Kentucky urged the military to turn over Mr Baker's medical records and said his claims were "deeply troubling".