The death of L/Cpl Douglas has devastated his family

L/Cpl Allan Douglas, 22, from Aberdeen, who was serving with The Highlanders, was shot by a sniper on Monday.

His body is expected to be flown to RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire next week.

But his mother Diane Douglas is annoyed and frustrated that her son's body will only be released after a post-mortem examination has taken place.

Mrs Douglas said the Army had already established how L/Cpl Douglas died and that the extra delay was harrowing for the family.

We need our son home now, we can't wait any longer Diane Douglas

She added: "My husband was going down to Brize Norton on Tuesday to pick up the body on Wednesday morning and bring it back to Aberdeen.

"Now we are informed that the coroner in England will be keeping the body for at least two days and doing a post-mortem.

"It's taken that long to get Allan home here, why keep him another two days? This is getting out of hand, our family are cracking up at this.

"We need our son home now, we can't wait any longer."

Mrs Douglas said Allan's funeral would have to be delayed for another week.

Vigils held

"Everything has been arranged, but we can't go any further now until we get him back here," she said.

Also being flown home will be the body of Cpl Gordon Pritchard of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards.

The 31-year-old, whose parents live in Edinburgh, became the 100th UK soldier to die in Iraq since the 2003 invasion, after the convoy he was driving in was hit by a roadside bomb.