A LEADING military expert today warned of the implications for peacekeeping missions after a soldier from Nelson was charged with the murder of an Iraqi civilian.

Charles Heyman, senior defence analyst for the Janes Consultancy group, said it was difficult for soldiers to operate under the same laws governing civilians in the UK.

His comments came after British soldier Kevin Williams, of Cravendale Avenue, Nelson, appeared in court charged with the murder of Iraqi Hassan Said.

Williams, 21, a trooper with the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, is accused of killing the father-of-nine on or before August 3 last year.

He is the first British serviceman to be charged with murder in Iraq. Mr Heyman said: "If the UK Ministry of Defence is going to deploy soldiers in arenas like Iraq, it will have to look very carefully at the criminal code and manual by which they operate.

"It is virtually impossible to impose the same constraints on soldiers in a battlefield situation as are imposed on people in the UK.

"In any prosecutions of soldiers it must be clearly proved they have not been in a battlefield situation.

"Often soldiers have half a second's notice to react and somebody can always make a mistake."

Williams was part of a patrol which stopped a truck suspected of carrying weapons.

Mr Said is believed to have been shot during an attempt to arrest him.

The soldier is facing criminal charges because the Attorney General Lord Goldsmith called in the police.

The trooper's commanding officer had previously decided he should not face court martial.

Williams was given bail when he appeared at Bow Street Magistrates Court in central London on Tuesday.

He must stay at Catterick Garrison in North Yorkshire and report to police every day.

He is due to appear at the Central Criminal Court on September 28.

His mother, Julie, 47, has told the Lancashire Evening Telegraph she will stand by her son.