A SCOTS-trained doctor could be struck off by his professional body next week over allegations he covered up the abuse of Iraqi civilians by British soldiers.
The General Medical Council (GMC) will convene its Fitness to Practise Panel in Manchester to consider the role played by Dr Derek Keilloh in the death of Baba Mousa and the treatment of other Iraqi detainees in Basra over two days in 2003.
Sir William Gage, who chaired a year-long inquiry into the events, published his reports in September which found that Mr Mousa was not a casualty of war but the victim of "an appalling episode of serious, gratuitous violence" by British soldiers.
He blamed "corporate failure" at the Ministry of Defence for the use of long-banned interrogation methods in Iraq, such as hooding detainees and making them stand in painful positions.
Dr Keilloh was the regimental medical officer for the 1st Battalion The Queen's Lancashire Regiment (1QLR), whose soldiers arrested Mr Mousa, along with nine other Iraqis, at the Haitham Hotel in Basra on September 14, 2003.
Mr Mousa, 26, was a hotel receptionist who was the son of a colonel in the Iraqi police. His 22-year-old wife had died of cancer shortly before his arrest, leaving him with two sons.
He died in British custody the day after his arrest. Dr Keilloh examined his body but claimed he found no injuries.
The Gage report said this was difficult to accept since a post mortem examination found Mr Mousa had 93 separate injuries. Sir William accused the doctor of a "serious failing" for not going to the detention centre where prisoners were being held after his death.
Dr Keilloh, who graduated from Aberdeen University in 1998 and had lived in Bielside in the city, currently practises as a GP in Northallerton, North Yorkshire.
The GMC's Fitness to Practise Panel will inquire into whether he was guilty of dishonest and misleading conduct.
Dr Keilloh had attempted to resuscitate Mr Mousa, who is described as a civilian detainee in the GMC's papers, after he had stopped breathing, but as well as failing to conduct an adequate examination of his body, he is said to have failed to notify a superior officer of the circumstances of his death.
On the same day as Mr Mousa died, Dr Keilloh is alleged to have examined two other detainees and should have been aware that both had been mistreated.
According to the GMC charges, he failed to record the injuries, and therefore failed to safeguard their physical condition, and also failed to notify a superior officer.
It is also alleged he was informed a civilian detainee was complaining of a heart condition, but failed to examine him.
Dr Keilloh is further accused of lying during subsequent inquires into the events in Basra.
"He maintained these accounts in interview under caution, in evidence at a court martial and at a public inquiry. It is alleged that these accounts were untrue. It is further alleged that this conduct was dishonest and misleading," according to the GMC.
Cpl Donald Payne became the first member of the British armed forces to be convicted of a war crime when he admitted to the inhumane treatment of Mr Mousa at a court martial in 2007. He was jailed for one year and dismissed from the Army.
However, the Gage inquiry found that while this had been a "contributory cause", Mr Mousa had already been weakened by a lack of food and water, heat, exhaustion, fear, previous injuries and the hooding and stress positions used by British troops.
Mr Mousa's family received compensation from the Ministry of Defence, but it did not accept liability for his death.
The Herald attempted to contact Dr Keilloh yesterday, but he was unavailable for comment..
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