Piers Morgan's statement in full

Here is Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan's statement about his decision to publish pictures apparently showing UK soldiers torturing an Iraqi captive.

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The two serving members of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment who provided our photographs of brutality by British soldiers against Iraqi captives have today [Sunday] given further detailed and sensational interviews to the Daily Mirror.

They stand fully behind every word of their story, rebutting every question raised, and they also stand by the complete veracity of the photographs. They also make a number of serious new allegations of improper conduct by British troops.

There was clearly a small rogue element of soldiers who committed totally unacceptable acts against Iraqi civilians. Acts which have made our battle to win the hearts and minds of this country's people so much more difficult.

The Daily Mirror makes no apology for exposing this outrageous and unlawful behaviour, which has been common knowledge among disgusted British servicemen in Basra for many months.

Nor do we believe there is any reason to think that these photographs have been faked in any way at all given the powerful testimony we have received.

These two soldiers felt compelled to expose what went on because they believed it was fundamentally wrong, and that it would inevitably be reported at some stage.

As General (Sir Michael) Jackson made clear, the people that carried out these sickening acts simply have no place in the British Army.

But we also agree with him that the vast majority of our troops in Iraq have done an outstandingly brave job in incredibly difficult circumstances and the Mirror will always support our troops unequivocally, even though we opposed the political decision to wage this war.