Christian Fraser BBC, Nairobi, Kenya

600 Samburu women allege they were raped by British soldiers

The women who allege they were raped by British soldiers in the 1980s and 1990s are angry they are being refused an independent investigation by the British army.

For several months the Royal Military Police have been in Kenya investigating 650 allegations of rape against British soldiers.

They have set up camp near several villages close to a training area in the hills north of the capital, Nairobi.

The army had been trying to interview women that were named in police records.

False

But over the past few days, a growing number of women from the villages, many of them from the Samburu tribe, have begun gathering around the camp to protest.

Martyn Day is representing the women

The women refused to be interviewed by British officers. The villagers insist it is impossible for the army to give their women a fair hearing when it has already been decided that the majority of cases are false.

A spokesman for the British High Commission in Nairobi said it was frustrating that the women were still refusing to come forward and stressed that it made the investigation even harder.

Martin Day, the British lawyer seeking a multi-million pound compensation package for the women, has called for a public inquiry.

He has always maintained that the army should not be left to investigate itself.