LONDON, May 2 (Xinhuanet) -- Britain is investigating the allegations of abusing Iraqi prisoners by British soldiers as sources close to the British army have cast doubts on photographs apparently showing the torture.

    British Ministry of Defense had launched an investigation after the Daily Mirror newspaper published five black and white photographs Saturday of British soldiers kicking, stamping and urinating on an Iraqi prisoner in Basra, southern Iraq.

    Prime Minister Tony Blair said Saturday if the photos are authentic, this is "completely and totally unacceptable."

    "Let me make it quite clear that if these things have actually been done, they are completely and totally unacceptable. We went to Iraq to get rid of that sort of thing, not to do it," Blair told BBC television Saturday.

    The Daily Mirror newspaper said Sunday it had no doubts about the pictures' authenticity.

    "We carried out our own checks and we are happy with them," a spokeswoman for the newspaper said, claiming that the photographs were obtained from two unidentified soldiers in The Queen's Lancashire Regiment (QLR).

    However, the BBC's defense correspondent Paul Adams said sources close to the QLR believe that many aspects of the photographs are suspicious and the pictures may not have even been taken in Iraq.

    The sources were quoted as saying that the type of rifle and the floppy hats pictured were not used by troops in Iraq, and the type of truck shown in the background had not been deployed there.

    Army spokesman Roger Goodwin, on behalf of the QLR, said there was "clearly some form of link to the regiment."

    "But the precise form of that link, including whether the soldiers involved in the alleged atrocities were members of the QLR, needs to be established," he added.

    The Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported that six junior non-commissioned officers of the regiment were being questioned at a British base in Cyprus in connection with allegations of abusing prisoners. But the Ministry of Defense refused to confirm the report.

    Britain's Chief of General Staff Sir Mike Jackson said if proven, the perpetrators are not fit to wear the army uniform because they have besmirched the British army's fame and conduct. Enditem