BRITAIN: Piers Morgan is seeking £1 million compensation for the abrupt termination of his contract as editor of the Daily Mirror in London after publishing hoax pictures of British soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners.
Morgan, who was marched out of the Mirror offices late on Friday, is demanding that his two-year contract be honoured in full after nearly nine years as editor of the tabloid.
The £1 million is understood to include his annual salary of £350,000, bonuses and pension entitlement over two years, plus any share options.
Morgan has refused to apologise for the pictures, which were denounced as fake last week by senior government and military sources, and was told to go by Sly Bailey, the chief executive of Trinity Mirror, the newspaper's owner.
On Saturday the paper apologised for publishing the photographs and pledged to donate the estimated £100,000 it has made from selling on the photos to other press organisations to charity. But the saga is unlikely to end soon. The paper and its former editor could face a Press Complaints Commission investigation.