The bodies of two British soldiers from Essex have been found in a shallow grave near Basra, southern Iraq.

Sapper Luke Allsopp, 24, from Dagenham and Staff Sergeant Simon Cullingworth, 36, were members of a bomb disposal unit of the 33 (EOD) Engineer Regiment, and went missing on 23 March after an attack near Al Zubayr.

The soldiers were based at barracks, in Wimbish, Essex. Staff Sergeant Cullingworth lived with his wife Alison and two young sons, aged 8 and 3, in the village.

The bodies of what were said to be the two dead British servicemen were later shown on Arab television station Al Jazeera.

Following the discovery of the bodies, the Ministry of Defence expressed its "deep regret".

It said: "The cause of death is not yet known but an investigation is ongoing and execution is a possibility."

Post-mortem examinations will be carried out to try to confirm exactly how the men died.

Published Monday, April 21, 2003