Monday, September 18 2006 11:22 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Sydney: Australian Prime Minister John Howard on today (Sept 18.2006) played down videos of Australian soldiers in Iraq, including one showing a gun held to the head of a kneeling man in Arab dress.

Details of the 14 clips posted on the Internet were revealed in an article on the Time magazine website, which said they appeared to feature serious wrongdoing by soldiers during their 2004 and 2005 operations in Baghdad.

Other videos show soldiers exposing themselves, wielding pistols in apparent breach of safety protocols and fraternising with Iraqis, which the magazine said could potentially jeopardise their safety.

But Howard said Australians should not get ourselves into a lather about the videos, which were posted on the 'You Tube 'website but have since been removed.

"I am not condoning it but I am saying we shouldn't overreact and we ought to leave it to the military to sort it out," Howard told Australian radio, ruling out a special inquiry.

Soldiers throughout the ages had "let off a bit of steam" when working in stressful environments and the only difference now was the existence of video cameras and the Internet, he said. Australia's military leader Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston has pledged an investigation into the videos and warned that some soldiers could be discharged from the army.

"The behaviour in these few images displays cultural insensitivity, a disregard for operational security and inappropriate handling of weapons and is not condoned or sanctioned by Defence in any way," Houston said.

Opposition leader Kim Beazley called for a full inquiry but said the misbehaviour of a few soldiers should not reflect on the overall performance of Australian troops abroad.

"There's only a few involved here and our troops are doing a magnificent job overseas. It should be a proper inquiry but it should not result in any finger-pointing at the totality of the performance of Australian troops," he said.

A former commander of the elite Special Air Service Regiment backed Howard's assessment, saying the soldiers were simply using humour to relieve stress. "Humour is something which is very important to soldiers," said former brigadier Jim Wallace.