THE family of an Iraqi beaten to death while in British military custody plans to sue the Ministry of Defence.

Lawyers acting for the father and two children of Baha Musa, a 26-year-old hotel worker who died in Basra in September 2003, hope to win hundreds of thousands of pounds in damages through British courts.

Personal injury lawyer Sapna Malik, a partner at Leigh, Day and Co, is representing the Musa family and eight other Iraqi claimants who say they were mistreated by members of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment while in custody.

The firm plans to lodge the claims papers in court in four weeks' time for punitive and exemplary' damages.