History > 2006 > UK > Wars > Iraq (II)

Day of retribution for Kurds

as Saddam stands trial for genocide

August 22, 2006
From The Times
From Ned Parker in Dahuk, northern Iraq

THE policeman sitting in the grimy coffee shop in Dahuk spat dramatically at the television screen as his friends shouted profanities. It may not have been seemly behaviour, but Walid Hkalid Mussa had waited for nearly two decades for this moment: to see Saddam Hussein in a cage and on trial for the genocide of his people, his family.

A similar scene was played out in barber shops, restaurants and offices across northern Iraq yesterday as normal life was frozen for the first day of Saddam’s trial for the murder of up to 100,000 people during the 1988 Anfal campaigns against the Kurds.

Mr Mussa’s 18-year-old brother was shot dead that year, and the memory haunts him. “I’m very happy to see Saddam in a cage,” he said. “Hopefully we will get our revenge against him. Our future will not be settled until we know what happens to Saddam.”

The Kurds estimate that Saddam’s Baath party razed more than 4,000 villages and left an estimated 800,000 people without homes during its 35-year reign.

Yesterday in Baghdad Saddam was called to account for the crimes, but he remained defiant. When Abdullah al-Amiri, the head judge, asked him to identify himself, the former dictator replied: “You know my name. My name is well known to you.”

The judge raised a book with the regulations to show to Saddam. “Do you respect this law?” Saddam paused before replying: “This is the law of the occupation.” He finally identified himself as “President of the Republic of Iraq and Commander-in-Chief of the heroic Iraqi armed forces.”

Asked to plead guilty or innocent on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, Saddam offered brazen defiance. “That would require volumes of books,” he answered. Finally Mr al-Amiri ordered a plea of innocent to be entered.

Saddam is on trial with six co-defendants, including his cousin Ali Hasan al-Majid, who directed the operation against the Kurds and who was known as Chemical Ali because of his reliance on mustard gas and nerve agents to defeat them. Dressed in a chequered red headdress and a light-coloured robe, Mr alMajid hunched over and walked with a cane. He identified himself as “Comrade and Major-General Ali Hasan al-Majid”.

Prosecutors alleged that the eight Anfal campaigns between February and August 1988 were aimed at driving Kurds from their homes into “collective villages”, which human rights groups have compared to concentration camps. Many people died in the appalling conditions there, while others were victims of gassings and a shoot-to-kill policy.

Yesterday in the countryside outside Dahuk, where Saddam’s army had flattened hamlets during Anfal, farmers gathered at homes with power generators to watch the trial.

In Beshinki, Sabiha Ahmed looked across the sloping hills and fig trees where 80 families lived until Saddam’s army flattened the village in August 1988. Saddam was barred from Kurdistan in 1991, but only 20 families have returned to build mud and cement homes in the village. Others are still squatting at the Nazarki camp where they were imprisoned.

Mrs Ahmed and her family were among those held at the camp. She says that 27 men from her village were killed and that she saw 15 people beaten or shot dead. Her son, she said, became sick and lost muscle co-ordination in his arms, leaving him disabled. After nine days, the camp guards announced that Saddam had pardoned the detainees and ordered them to dance in celebration, but the prisoners refused.

“We saw people tortured and killed in front of us. We couldn’t dance,” she said. “The trial helps a bit, but we lost a lot of people. Even if they kill Saddam, we don’t get them back. Still, it’s better than nothing.”

WHAT IS GENOCIDE?

Acts regarded as genocide include killing members of the group; deliberately inflicting conditions aimed at bringing about the group’s destruction; imposing measures to prevent births within the group; and forcibly transferring children of the group to another group

    Day of retribution for Kurds as Saddam stands trial for genocide, Ts, 22.8.2006, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article615876.ece

Saddam trial: villagers tell of the day the planes came

August 22, 2006
From Times Online
By Lee Glendinning and agencies

Kurdish villagers gave a series of emotional testimonies today in Saddam Hussein's genocide trial as they told of how the Iraqi dictator’s forces bombarded civilian villages with poisonous gas.

On the second day of the trial, after a chaotic opening in which Saddam refused to state his name or enter a plea, witnesses began to detail the savagery of the Anfal campaign which ran from 1987-88.

The prosecution alleges that up to 182,000 civilians were killed in air strikes, poison gas attacks and armed sweeps by Iraqi forces through designated "prohibited zones" in Kurdish regions.

It is the first time that Saddam has been tried for alleged crimes against humanity. Unlike the anonymous witnesses in his first trial, on charges of mass murder, Ali Mustafa Hama, a Kurdish village farmer in his early 50s, testified in open court without having his identity protected.

"On April 16, 1987 in the evening as the cattle were returning home and the sun was setting in the sky, about eight to 12 jets covered the sky," he began.

"The jets started firing on the villages of Belisand and Sheikwasan. The explosions were not very loud.

"There was greenish smoke from the bombs. It was if there was a rotten apple or garlic smell minutes later. People were vomiting... we were blind and screaming. There was no one to rescue us. Just God," he said.

Prosecutors said that a series of eight campaigns between February and August 1988 were aimed at driving Kurds from their homes into "collective villages" where Iraqi authorities could monitor them. Those who did not die in the military attacks were arrested, displaced, tortured or killed, the court was told.

They were buried in shallow graves, "which were easy for animals to dig open" and hundreds were unearthed after the US-led invasion of Iraq ended Saddam’s regime in 2003.

Mr Hama told the court how he and other villagers were taken away by cart for treatment when, weakened by gas, many of them died.

He said that he saw a new-born infant die during the bombardment. "The infant was trying to smell life, but he breathed in the chemicals and died," he said.

During cross-examination he was asked how he could know the planes which bombed the village were Iraqi, he said: "I am sure they were Iraqi because later the second day the Iraqi army destroyed our village completely. They burnt the village, destroyed it."

Saddam himself challenged the witness, asking: "Who told you to say this?"

Another witness, Najib Khudair Ahmad, a 41-year-old mother, confronted Saddam with a scarred face saying that it was the result of a chemical weapon attack on the village of Sheikwasan.

"If we were Iraqis, why did you bomb us?" she demanded.

She went on to tell the court how she lost family members in the attack on Sheikwasan.

"We were blinded. Our men fled to the mountains. I was unable to make it to the mountains. I took shelter in a cave. My father-in-law died in the village due to chemical weapons. I could not see, I was blind," she said.

"Even now my throat has problems. Skin from all delicate parts of my body has peeled off."

She said she had two pregnancies after the attack and her first child was born with skin peeling off, the second miscarried and was born with malformed limbs.

In tears she described being held in a detention camp for nine days where her brother and niece disappeared.

"During those nine days, it was like the apocalypse. Even Hitler didn't do this.

"I know Saddam's aim was genocide. To kill Kurds...I swear by God. I can feel it. Saddam's intention was to kill and cleanse the Kurds."

Throughout the witnesses’ testimony, both Saddam and the defence lawyers insisted that they had been coached in their testimony.

One lawyer asked how Ahmed, who said she was illiterate, could specify that Russian-made Sukhoi warplanes carried out the bombardment.

The chief prosecutor has told the court that 1,175 victims’ testimonies had been recorded and of those, between 65 and 75 will testify.

Two of Saddam's six co-defendants addressed the court and insisted that Anfal was targeted at Iranian troops and allied Kurdish guerrillas in northern Iraq at a time when Iraq and Iran were locked in war.

"The goal was to fight an organised, armed army ... the goal was not civilians," said Sultan Hashim al-Tai, who was the commander of Task Force Anfal and head of the Iraqi Army 1st Corps and later served as Saddam’s last defence minister.

He said that civilians in the areas where Anfal took place were "safely transported", to other areas, including the northern city of Kirkuk. The orders in the campaign were "to prevent the Iranian army from occupying Iraq at whatever price," al-Tai said.

"I implemented them precisely and sincerely without adding anything or exceeding my powers. I never turned a blind eye to any violation."

A verdict in Saddam’s first trial over the execution of 148 Shia villagers from Dujail, north of Baghdad, is expected in October. Saddam faces a possible death sentence and could be executed after appeal - even before the Anfal trial finishes, which is likely to be in December.

    Saddam trial: villagers tell of the day the planes came, Ts, 22.8.2006, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article615995.ece

Saddam loses his temper at rape accusations

August 21, 2006
From Times Online
By Lee Glendinning, Ned Parker in Donhuk, Kurdistan, and agencies

Saddam Hussein erupted into a rage on the opening day of his genocide trial today, threatening to "hunt down" his prosecutor after being accused of culpability in the alleged mass rape of Iraqi Kurdish women.

In the second and more important criminal case so far brought against Iraq’s former president, the court is seeking justice against Saddam and six co-defendants for the country’s 1988 Anfal offensive, in which its security services killed between 50,000 and 100,000 Kurds and destroyed more than 2,000 Kurdish villages.

Munqith al-Faroon, the chief prosecutor had told the court that Kurdish women had been raped as part of the collective punishment during the campaign.

"Women were put through psychological torture. Their infant babies were separated from them. The babies and the mothers were allowed to cry. Young women were raped by guards and officials," he told the court.

Saddam, 69, responded by banging on the podium in front of him and pointing at prosecutors.

"If he says that a Iraqi woman was raped in my era and if he does not prove it, I will hunt him for the rest of my life," he yelled.

"An Iraqi woman raped in my era? The reign of Saddam Hussein? Saddam will not accept it. If I hear that during my reign this happened, and if he does not prove it, he will be my enemy. Saddam will not accept it."

He said that when he heard that an Iraqi soldier had raped an Arab woman his regime’s 1990-1991 occupation of Kuwait, he had ordered him tried and then hanged "for three days at the site of the crime".

Earlier the former leader refused to state his name or enter a plea. When the judge asked Saddam to identify himself for the record, he replied: "You know me."

He was told that it was the law that defendants had to identify themselves and the judge asked: "Do you respect this law?"

"This is the law of the occupation," Saddam replied, then identified himself as "the president of the republic and commander in chief of the armed forces".

When the judge asked Saddam, "Are you innocent or guilty?" Saddam replied, "That would require volumes of books."

    Saddam loses his temper at rape accusations, Ts, 21.8.2006, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article615094.ece

Angry MPs demand recall of parliament

Discontent over UK's Lebanon policy

Wednesday August 9, 2006
Guardian
Patrick Wintour, Ewen MacAskill and Oliver Burkeman in New York

Up to 100 MPs, most of them Labour, are to demand an immediate recall of parliament to debate the crisis in Lebanon because of growing fears about the government's strategy.

The call is expected to come in the next 48 hours and its organisers have been in discussion with the Liberal Democrat and Scottish Nationalist parties. Negotiations are also under way with campaign groups backing the call for an immediate ceasefire that attracted the support of 200 MPs.

Jon Trickett, chairman of the Compass group of 50 leftwing MPs and a force behind the appeal, said: "In this crisis, parliament needs to speak for the nation. We are living in a 24/7 society, yet our parliament seems so ossified that it goes into recess for 11 weeks and there seems no way for backbenchers to bring MPs back."

The demand will be made in a letter to Jack Straw, the leader of the Commons. The Speaker will take the decision, on the recommendation of the government.

The mood in Downing Street is that there is no great need for a recall. However, cabinet sources acknowledged that if the moves towards a UN resolution collapse, that could change.

The atmosphere at the UN was tense. Until late afternoon, diplomats appeared to be on the verge of securing a ceasefire deal, after the US and France devised concessions to an Arab League delegation that flew into New York on behalf of the Lebanese government. But at an extraordinary and emotional session of the security council, attended by representatives of Israel and Lebanon, each side aggressively reasserted a refusal to compromise.

The ambassador of Qatar, the council's only Arab member, excoriated the council for "stand[ing] idly by, crippled and unable to stop the bloodbath which has become the bitter daily lot of the unarmed Lebanese people", and warned of the "repercussions of adopting non-enforceable resolutions that will further complicate the situation on the ground."

Tarek Mitri, the Lebanese representative, flatly rejected the draft resolution's call for Israel to halt "offensive operations". He said: "All the wars launched by Israel against our country have been claimed to be self-defensive ... How could a resolution provide for a cessation of hostilities, and then in fact carry the great risk of continued violence and destruction?"

Dan Gillerman, Israel's envoy, insisted his country had no quarrel with Lebanon. But "speeches and resolutions do not in themselves end conflicts", he said. Instead, terrorism had to be "confronted and overcome".

Central to the Arab League's requests is a clause in the resolution calling for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon as quickly as possible.

Progress was significantly advanced by the offer on Monday night by the Lebanese government to deploy its forces in southern Lebanon sooner than expected, to replace retreating Israeli forces and prevent further Hizbullah attacks.

Philippe Douste-Blazy, the French foreign minister, said Lebanon's pledge was an "important contribution towards solving the current crisis". The US and France, which had led the UN negotiations, welcomed the Lebanese offer and agreed to incorporate the plan into the draft.

In a further concession to the Arab League, which represents all Arab governments, they agreed to put into the draft that a proposed international force take over Sheba'a Farms, the small pocket of land Israel hung on to when it pulled out of Lebanon in 2000.

The draft resolution is becoming more complex, taking in proposals initially intended for a more detailed one in a few weeks. Denis Simonneau, the French foreign ministry spokesman, said: "We are working to have this first resolution mention a withdrawal of the Israeli army and Hizbullah." The proposed changes have delayed further the security council vote.

Hizbullah signalled that it would not resist the deployment of the Lebanese army and the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, was more ambiguous, saying the Lebanese plan was "interesting".

    Angry MPs demand recall of parliament, G, 9.8.2006, http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,1840239,00.html

Anti-war challenge

Families of soldiers killed in Iraq launch party to challenge ministers

· More than 70 candidates to contest Labour seats
· Bereaved to meet within two weeks to plan strategy

Saturday August 5, 2006
Guardian
Steve Boggan

Whenever news of British military deaths in the Middle East flashes on to their TV screen, Reg and Sally Keys become silent and you can see anxiety wash across their faces.

This week has been particularly tough; three soldiers killed in Afghanistan, one in Iraq. Each time it happens, it reminds them of their son, Thomas, one of six royal military policemen killed in Iraq in 2003.

The Keys are among 115 families whose sons have been killed in Iraq. But this week, one of the worst for British casualties, has been different for the bereaved; this week, they have been doing something about it.

Mr Keys, a 54-year-old former paramedic who stood against Tony Blair in Sedgefield at the general election, is at the centre of moves to form a new political movement aimed at bringing down ministers who failed to vote against the war in Iraq. In the next two weeks he and a small group of others will meet to lay down the foundations of Spectre, a political party that will target the people they hold culpable for the deaths of their sons in what they see as an illegal war.

Last week, four of them won an appeal court challenge against the government's refusal to hold a public inquiry into the decision to go to war against Saddam Hussein. Their lawyer, Phil Shiner, described the victory as stunning, not least because, if they are successful in November, the inquiry could see the prime minister, former foreign secretary Jack Straw and former defence secretary Geoff Hoon called to explain their actions.

The parents were delighted, but regard legal proceedings as only one element of a two-pronged attack. At Spectre's inaugural meeting, expected to be held in the Midlands, they will lay plans for a launch next month at the start of Labour's annual conference in Manchester.

The families hope to field upwards of 70 candidates at the next general election, and suck enough votes away from Labour ministers to cause political ructions.

"Every time you see news of more deaths, it just brings it all back and you realise that some family's nightmare is just beginning," Mr Keys says. "We know how those families will be feeling. We all feel we've been lied to, ignored and, frankly, insulted. But now it's different. Now we're going to make ministers pay with their seats."

Thomas Keys, 20, and five colleagues were murdered at an Iraqi police station in Al-Majar Al-Kabir. Since the deaths, Mr Keys has learned that the six were ill-equipped and could have survived if they had had such basic resources as a satellite phone to call for help.

"When they recovered Thomas's body there were 30 bullet holes in it," he says. "He had been systematically shot in the feet, shins, shoulders and arms. It was only the last two shots, to the head, that killed him. The authorities know who killed him. They even have the murderers' addresses, and the address of a man who took Thomas's watch from him, the watch I gave him for his 18th birthday. But these men are still free.

"All the parents of the soldiers killed are angry. If Thomas had been fighting for his country in a legal war, then you wouldn't be hearing from me. But we were lied to. Saddam didn't have weapons of mass destruction; he was no threat to us. So we feel those lives were lost for nothing."

Mr Keys took 4,252 votes in Sedgefield - 10.3% of the vote. Now he believes similar results up and down the country could cost Labour ministers their seats.

He will stand, as will Rose Gentle. Her 19-year-old son, Gordon, was killed in a roadside bombing in Basra in 2004. She uses a website, www.mfaw.org.uk (Military Families Against the War) to encourage bereaved families to come forward and make a stand.

"I'm getting between 200 and 300 emails a day from bereaved families, concerned military families and serving soldiers who all feel angry at the way we have been lied to," she says. "This movement is growing and by forming a political party we'll have a focus of that anger."

The idea came from John Mackenzie, the lawyer representing families of the six military policemen. He says the name Spectre was chosen to remind ministers of the fear that should haunt them. Spectre's steering committee is likely to comprise Mr Keys, Mrs Gentle and Mr Mackenzie, with Mike Aston, whose son Russell died alongside Thomas Keys, Peter Brierley, whose son Shaun died in Kuwait in 2003, Sue Smith, whose son Phillip Hewett died in a roadside bombing last year, and Beverley Clarke, who lost her son David to "friendly fire" in 2003.

Mr Brierley, who put up £11,000 of his own money to fund last week's successful court action, says: "We can do a lot of damage to the ministers who supported the war. I don't particularly have an argument with the Labour party, or even most of the government. I blame the personal ambitions of one man: Tony Blair."

Tony Travers, an elections expert at the London School of Economics, believes ministers would be unwise to ignore Spectre. "There is much evidence of a lack of trust in politicians, so when you have ordinary citizens standing, they can sometimes attract voters. Where you have bereaved citizens contesting seats, you could have an even more powerful movement."

Among those who could be vulnerable are foreign secretary Margaret Beckett, with a majority of 5,657 in Derby South; Ruth Kelly, the communities and local government secretary, with a majority of 2,064 in Bolton West; and, less conceivably, Jack Straw, leader of the Commons, whose Blackburn majority is 8,009.

John Miller's son, Simon, was one of the six military policemen killed in Al-Majar Al-Kabir. He was told this week by a senior officer in the military's special investigation branch that arrest warrants issued last January had expired and were recently renewed because no action had been taken against the men who killed his son. "He told me there was a lack of political will," Mr Miller says.

The founders of Spectre do not speak for all the bereaved families. Sandra Hyde, whose son, Lance Corporal Ben Hyde, was one of the six military policemen, said: "I don't think Ben died in vain. My husband, John, and I differ - he thinks Saddam had to be removed and war was the only way; I believe Tony Blair should have waited for a second UN resolution and more evidence of weapons of mass destruction.

"But if all those soldiers came home now with nothing being resolved, then I would feel Ben had died in vain. It all seems to be getting worse and I don't know what the answer is, but we should try to resolve the situation, if only out of respect for all those who have died."

    Families of soldiers killed in Iraq launch party to challenge ministers, G, 5.8.2006, http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,,1837762,00.html

British Diplomat Reportedly Concludes Iraq Is Close to Civil War

August 3, 2006
The New York Times
By ALAN COWELL

LONDON, Aug. 3 — A senior British diplomat in Baghdad, contradicting official policy in both London and Washington, has concluded that the country is closer to civil war and partition than democracy, according to a confidential cable that a BBC correspondent reported seeing in the Iraqi capital.

William Patey, who concluded his tour in Baghdad last week, made the assessment in a final e-cable, the BBC reported today. “The prospect of a low intensity civil war and a de facto division of Iraq is probably more likely at this stage than a successful and substantial transition to a stable democracy,” Mr. Patey said.

“The position is not hopeless,” the diplomat went on, but concluded that, for the next decade, Iraq would remain “messy and difficult.” The British government did not confirm the veracity of the account, but did nothing to contradict it.

In its official depiction of Iraq’s chaos, Britain, like the United States, evokes a fledgling democracy struggling to implant itself in the face of violent insurgents who will one day be defeated. For that reason, the argument goes, American and British troops are needed to help this process go forward.

Indeed, at a news conference, Prime Minister Tony Blair cited the ambassador’s cable as evidence of his belief that western nations faced what he has cast as an elemental struggle with Islamic extremism.

“The purpose is to put extremists in charge of countries rather than those committed to democracy,” Mr. Blair said. “What should our response be? However difficult it is, stay the course, stand up for those people who want democracy, stand for those people who are fighting sectarianism, stand up for a different vision of the Middle East base on democracy, liberty and the rule of law.

“That is what we are doing and however tough it is, we will see it through, and actually if you read the whole of the telegram, that is precisely what William is saying,” he said, referring to the ambassador.

Mr. Patey drew a parallel between Iraq and Lebanon, saying:” If we are to avoid a descent into civil war and anarchy, then preventing the Jaish al-Mahdi (the Mahdi Army) from developing into a state within a state, as Hezbollah has done in Lebnanon, will be a priority.” He was referring to the Shiite Muslim militia which professes loyalty to the cleric Moktada al-Sadr.

Mr. Blair returned from a visit to the United States on Wednesday confronting stubborn criticism — even ridicule — of his close relations with the United States not just in Iraq but also in the diplomacy of the Lebanon war. At his news conference, he acknowledged dissent within his party and government but said he was working for practical solutions that could lead to a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah “within the next few days.”

As in the Iraq invasion, Mr. Blair has cast himself as America’s closest ally, aligning himself closely with the White House in refusing to call for an immediate cease-fire, despite demands from within his Labor party and cabinet to distance himself somewhat.

“I don’t doubt that there are people who disagree within the system and I have no doubt that there are cabinet ministers who have doubts about this aspect or that aspect — possibly about the whole aspect of the policy,” Mr. Blair told a news conference at 10 Downing Street.

Specifically, Mr. Blair has been criticized by figures like Jack Straw, his former foreign secretary, who still holds senior cabinet rank, for failing to characertize Israel’s initial response to Hezbollah attacks as disproportionate. Others have complained that he has lost influence in Arab nations by failing to call for an immediate cease-fire in the face of widespread civilian carnage.

The criticism reflects a sense among Britons that their leader wields more influence in the region than has been evident in years of diplomacy dominated by the United States. Mr. Blair sought to strengthen that impression today, saying that he had been conducting hectic telephone diplomacy with both President Bush and Prime Minister Fouad Siniora of Lebanon.

But his critics, including former ambassadors and government ministers along with a senior United Nations official, have assailed him, particularly for what Rodric Braithwaite, a former British envoy to Moscow, called “Mr. Blair’s total identification with the White House.”

The alliance with President Bush, Sir Rodric said in an article in The Financial Times, “has destroyed his influence in Washington, Europe and the Middle East: who bothers with the monkey if he can go straight to the organ-grinder?”

In a speech in a California earlier this week, Mr. Blair spoke of an “arc of extremism” stretching across and beyond the Middle East in a region where British troops are deployed in southern Iraq and southern Afghanistan.

While British losses — like the overall British deployment — are smaller than those of the United States, the death of three soldiers in an ambush in Afghanistan, on the same day a soldier was killed in Basra, has inspired criticism that the soldiers are at greater risk than Britons had been led to expect.

The grandparents of one of the dead soldiers, Ross Nicholls, 27, told Mr. Blair that he should go to Afghanistan himself, or send his own sons, to understand what was happening. “Tony Blair should know how it feels,” Grandmother Janet Nicholls, 76, told reporters. “It’s not as if they are even fighting for their own country — these people don’t want the British out there,” she said, referring to the Afghan population.

    British Diplomat Reportedly Concludes Iraq Is Close to Civil War, NYT, 3.8.2006, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/03/world/europe/03cnd-britain.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

MoD admits body armour would have saved tank commander

· Soldier killed by comrades trying to protect him
· Inquiry criticises shortage of essential equipment

Tuesday August 1, 2006
Guardian
Hugh Muir

The Ministry of Defence admitted for the first time yesterday that a British tank commander killed by friendly fire in Iraq would have survived if he had been wearing body armour.

Sergeant Steve Roberts was killed when comrades from 2 Royal Tank Regiment attempted to defend him from a stone-throwing protester at a vehicle checkpoint near the town of Zubayr on March 24 2003, days after the start of the war.

His death sparked controversy when it emerged that he gave up his enhanced combat body armour (ECBA) days before going into battle because his regiment had not been supplied with enough sets.

Yesterday an army board of inquiry said his life would have been saved if he had been properly protected and criticised the MoD for failing to give "timely attention" to shortages in essential kit. It also highlighted administrative failures that left ill-equipped troops exposed.

The inquiry found that Sgt Roberts was killed by colleagues as they tried to save him because they had never been taught their guns were inaccurate at short range.

It reported that Sgt Roberts was left alone to face the protester when he should, according to orders issued on the night, have been covered by an armed colleague.

His weapon - a 9mm Browning pistol - appeared to have jammed after he fired it once at Zaher Zaher, who had already struck him with rocks on the chest, stomach and head.

Soldiers in three Challenger tanks then fired on Zaher in an effort to protect Sgt Roberts. Both men died. But subsequent tests found that the bullet which killed Sgt Roberts came from an L94 machine gun on one of the Challengers.

The gunner - who was just 20 metres from Sgt Roberts - had not been warned that his weapon was only accurate over distances of more than 200 metres.

Gunners are now told that rounds from the weapon veer off to the left at closer range but the report said all tank crew members must be warned of the risks.

Samantha Roberts, Sgt Roberts's widow, has campaigned to find the truth behind her husband's death. At one point she received a personal apology from the then defence secretary, Geoff Hoon, after she released tapes of her husband voicing his concerns over equipment shortages.

Ten months after her husband was killed, she met Mr Hoon. Afterwards, she said Mr Hoon had failed to give her the answers she wanted and she pressed on with her campaign.

In the months following her husband's death, Mrs Roberts called for an independent inquiry.

Finally, last February, she heard the MoD had decided to admit liability and she would receive special compensation.

In a statement released last night she said she was "pleased that the policy has changed so that this should not happen to any soldier again".

She said she would give "detailed consideration" to the report before making a statement tomorrow, but added: "It's been a strenuous and emotional day. The events are not just technical - they involve the loss of my husband, the loss of a son, a beloved family member."

The army issued a statement saying that it would "work quickly" to ensure circumstances similar to those surrounding Sgt Roberts's death were not repeated.

The report blamed an "unachievable timeframe" between deployment of troops to Kuwait and the start of hostilities, as well as shortcomings in the supply chain. And it revealed that the MoD was warned as early as September 2001 that there were insufficient supplies of ECBA, but did not order further stocks until December 2002 - in part because of the need not to appear to be preparing for war while diplomatic efforts proceeded at the UN.

The board issued six recommendations, including measures to ensure all troops wear ECBA on operations, improved training in the use of weapons at close range and changes to the equipment supply chain to make it more "robust".

The defence secretary, Des Browne, said: "I would like to express my heartfelt regret over the death of Sgt Steve Roberts and pass on my greatest sympathies to all his family, friends and colleagues."

    MoD admits body armour would have saved tank commander, G, 1.8.2006, http://www.guardian.co.uk/military/story/0,,1834481,00.html

Full list

British soldiers killed in Iraq

Tuesday August 1, 2006
Guardian Unlimited
Press Association

The death of an unnamed British serviceman during a mortar attack on a coalition base in Basra brings the number of British service personnel who have died in Iraq since the start of hostilities to 111.

Of those, 87 have been killed in action. The rest died in accidents or of natural causes, illness, remain unexplained, or are still under investigation.

Acting Chief Petty Officer Simon Roger Owen, 38, died of natural causes aboard HMS Chatham on December 17 last year while on patrol in the Gulf. HMS Chatham was not assigned to Operation Telic - the name given to the British operation in Iraq.

Here is the full list:

2003

March 21

Eight British servicemen died when the US Sea Knight helicopter they were aboard crashed south of the Kuwait border, just after midnight.

They included five Royal Marines, plus two soldiers and a naval rating serving with the 29 Commando Regiment, Royal Artillery battery in Poole, Dorset.

-Captain Philip Guy, 29, from Bishopdale, North Yorkshire. Married with two children.

-Naval Rating Ian Seymour, an operator mechanic (communications) second class, of Hamworthy, Poole, Dorset. Married with one son.

-Warrant Officer Second Class Mark Stratford, Royal Marines.

-Marine Sholto "Sonic" Hedenskog, 25, from South Africa.

-Lance Bombardier Llywelyn "Welly" Evans, 24, of Llandudno, north Wales. Engaged to be married.

-Colour Sgt John Cecil, 36, of Plymouth, Devon. Originally from Newcastle upon Tyne. Married with one daughter and two stepchildren.

-Major Jason Ward, 34, from the Plymouth area.

-Sergeant Les Hehir, 34, of Poole, Dorset. Married with two sons.

March 22

Six British servicemen died when two Royal Navy Sea King helicopters collided over the northern Arabian Gulf at around 1.30am.

-Lt Philip Green, 31.

-Lt Tony King, 35, of Helston, Cornwall. Married with two children.

-Lt James Williams, 28, from Falmouth, Cornwall - originally from Winchester. He was engaged to be married.

-Lt Philip West, 32, of Budock Water, near Falmouth, Cornwall. He was due to be married.

-Lt Marc Lawrence, in his mid-20s, from Westgate, Kent. Engaged to be married.

-Lt Andrew Wilson, 36. Married to Sarah.

All were based at the Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose, near Helston, Cornwall.

March 23

An RAF GR4 Tornado aircraft from RAF Marham, Norfolk, which was returning from an operational mission, was engaged near the Kuwaiti border by a Patriot missile battery. -Flight Lt Kevin Main, a pilot.

-Flight Lt Dave Williams, a navigator. Both were of 9 Squadron.

Also on the same day two British soldiers were killed in an attack on British military vehicles in southern Iraq.

-Sapper Luke Allsopp, 24, of north London. Girlfriend was Katy.

-Staff Sergeant Simon Cullingworth, 36, from Essex. Married with two sons.

Both were members of 33 (EOD) Engineer Regiment, a specialist bomb disposal unit of the Royal Engineers, based at Carver Barracks, Wimbish, Essex.

March 24

-Sergeant Steven Roberts, 33, was killed in action near Al Zubayr near Basra.

The soldier of the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment was shot trying to calm a civil disturbance. He was from Bradford, West Yorkshire, married, and had a child from a previous marriage. He was raised in Cornwall.

-Lance Corporal Barry "Baz" Stephen, of the 1st Battalion.

The Black Watch was killed in action near Al Zubayr. Married, 31, from Perth.

March 25

Two British soldiers were killed in a "friendly fire" incident west of Basra. They were part of a four-man crew of a Challenger 2 Main Battle tank and mistakenly fired upon by comrades in another tank.

-Corporal Stephen John Allbutt, 35, from Stoke-on-Trent. Married with two children.

-Trooper David Jeffrey Clarke, 19, from Littleworth, Staffordshire. Was planning to get engaged to girlfriend Rachel.

March 28

A US A-10 tankbuster aircraft is reported to have fired on two armoured vehicles containing soldiers from the Household Cavalry Regiment, part of 16 Air Assault Brigade.

-Lance Corporal of Horse Matty Hull, 25, of The Blues & Royals, Household Cavalry Regiment, from Windsor, was killed in the apparent "friendly fire" incident. He was married to Susan.

March 30

Royal Marine Christopher Maddison, 24, was killed when a river launch was ambushed on the Al Faw peninsula south of Basra. Marine Maddison was a member of Plymouth-based 9 Assault Squadron.

-Lance Corporal Shaun Brierley, 28, with the 212 Signals Squadron, was killed in a crash in Kuwait. His family live in West Yorkshire and he had one son.

-Major Stephen Alexis Ballard, of 3 Commando Brigade, Royal Marines, died of natural causes. Married to Lucy and expecting first child.

March 31

-Staff Sergeant Chris Muir, 32, with the Army School of Ammunition, Royal Logistic Corps, based at Kineton, Warwickshire, died during an operation to dismantle munitions in southern Iraq. The married father-of-one was from Romsey, Hampshire.

April 1

Several members of the Household Cavalry Regiment were hurt when their light armoured vehicle slid down a crumbling bank and overturned.

-Lance Corporal Karl Shearer was killed in the accident. He was travelling in a Scimitar armed reconnaissance vehicle which was on its way to relieve another troop when the accident happened. He was married with one daughter.

April 6

Three soldiers were killed as allied troops swept into Basra.

-Kelan John Turrington, 18, from the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.

-Lance Corporal Ian Malone, of Dublin, 28, a member of the 1st Battalion the Irish Guards.

-Piper Christopher Muzvuru, 21, of the 1st Battalion the Irish Guards. He was born in Zimbabwe.

April 22

-Lt Alexander Tweedie, 25, was hurt in the accident which killed Lance Corporal Karl Shearer when their vehicle overturned on April 1 in southern Iraq.

-Lt Tweedie was taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary for treatment on April 3 but died from his injuries on April 22. He was serving with the D Squadron of The Blues and Royals Household Cavalry Regiment. He was single and originally from Hawick in the Scottish Borders.

April 30

-Lance Corporal James McCue, 27, was killed in an explosion in southern Iraq. He was serving with the 7 Air Assault Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME). He was single and from Paisley in Renfrewshire.

May 6

-Private Andrew Kelly, 18, was killed in an accident in Iraq. He was serving with the 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment. He was single and from Tavistock, Devon.

May 8

-Gunner Duncan Pritchard, 22, died in hospital in the UK after being injured in a traffic accident in Iraq. He was an RAF Regiment Gunner serving with 16 Squadron, based at RAF Honington, Suffolk.

May 19

- Corporal David Shepherd, 34, died from natural causes. He was serving with the Royal Air Force Police in Kuwait.

May 22

-Leonard Harvey, 55, a civilian member of the Defence Fire Service, died in hospital in the UK. He was taken ill while deployed in the Gulf. Divorced with three daughters, he had served with the Defence Fire Service for 33 years, normally based at Wattisham, Suffolk.

June 24

Six Royal Military Policemen were killed by an Iraqi mob at a police station at Al Majar Al Kabir.

-Sergeant Simon Alexander Hamilton-Jewell, 41, serving with 156 Provost Company. The Platoon Sergeant of the Parachute Provost Platoon, known as "HJ" he came from Chessington, Surrey, and was single.

-Corporal Russell Aston, 30, from Swadlincote, Derbyshire, was married with one daughter. He was the company physical training instructor.

-Corporal Paul Graham Long, 24, from Colchester. Cpl Long was serving on his first operational deployment. Married to Gemma and had a 11-month-old son, Benjamin.

-Corporal Simon Miller, 21, from Washington, Tyne & Wear. Cpl Miller was engaged to be married. He had previously served in the Parachute Regiment.

-Lance-Corporal Benjamin John McGowan Hyde, 23, from Northallerton, North Yorkshire. L/Cpl McGowan Hyde was single and was on his first operational tour.

-Lance-Corporal Thomas Richard Keys, 20, from Llanuwchllyn, near Bala in Wales. L/Cpl Keys was single and had previously served with The Parachute Regiment.

July18

-Captain James Linton, 43, died while serving in southern Iraq with the 40 Field Regiment, Royal Artillery. He collapsed and died following a training run at a British base in Al Zubayr. He was married with three children.

August 13

-Private Jason Smith, 32, a Territorial Army soldier, died while serving in southern Iraq. Death was not the result of enemy action. He was serving with 52nd Lowland Regiment attached to the 1st Battalion, The King's Own Scottish Borderers. From Hawick in the Scottish borders, he was unmarried but had a long-term partner.

August 14

-Captain David Jones, 29, was killed in a bomb attack on a military ambulance in Basra, southern Iraq. He came from Louth, Lincolnshire, and had been married just over a year. A Sandhurst graduate, he had been working on civil-military co-operation projects in Basra to reconstruct the city.

August 23

Three soldiers from the Royal Military Police were killed after an ambush on a military vehicle by gunmen in Basra.

-Major Matthew Titchener, 32, of 150 Provost Company. He was married with one child.

-Warrant Officer Colin Wall, 34, of 150 Provost Company. He was married with one child, plus two from a previous marriage.

-Corporal Dewi Pritchard, 35, a Territorial Army soldier serving with 116 Provost Company. He was married and came from Bridgend.

August 27

-Fusilier Russell Beeston, 26, was killed after an army convoy was confronted by two mobs of Iraqi civilians and a firefight began at Ali As Sharqi.

-Fusilier Beeston, 26, was a Territorial Army soldier in 52nd Lowland Regiment (Volunteers), serving attached to the 1st Battalion King's Own Scottish Borderers in Iraq. He was married and came from Govan in Glasgow.

September 23

A Territorial Army soldier died in an incident involving a firearm while serving at Shaibah near Basra.

-Sergeant John Nightingale, of 217 Transport Squadron, part of 150 Regiment (Volunteers) of the Royal Logistic Corps. Engaged to Lucy and aged 32, he came from Leeds and worked in the electronics industry.

October 31

A Royal Marines NCO was killed by hostile fire during an operation in Iraq.

-Corporal Ian Plank, Royal Marines. Aged 31 and came from Poole.

November 6

A British serviceman was killed in a road traffic accident in Basra.

-Private Ryan Thomas, 1st Battalion, Royal Regiment of Wales. Aged 18, from Resolven, near Neath.

2004

January 1

Two British soldiers were killed in a road traffic accident in Baghdad in the early hours.

-Major James Stenner, Welsh Guards. Married, 30, from Monmouthshire.

-Sergeant Norman Patterson, Cheshire Regiment. Single, 28, from Staffordshire.

January 7

A British serviceman died following an incident on a training range near Basra.

-Lance Corporal Andrew James Craw, Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders. Single, 21, from Clackmannanshire.

January 21

A soldier was killed in a road accident at Al Amarah.

-Rifleman Vincent Calvin Windsor, 2nd Battalion, Royal Green Jackets. Aged 23, he came from Oxfordshire and had a German fiancee.

January 31

A soldier died in an accident in Basra.

-Sapper Robert Thomson, Royal Engineers. Unmarried, 22, from West Lothian.

February 12

A soldier died in a vehicle accident at Shaibah Logistics Base in southern Iraq.

-Corporal Richard Thomas David Ivell, Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers. Married with three children, 29, from Doncaster, South Yorkshire.

June 28 A soldier was killed, and two injured, in an improvised explosive device attack on British vehicles in Basra.

-Fusilier Gordon Gentle, from Glasgow, of Royal Highland Fusiliers.

July 19

An airman was killed when an RAF Puma helicopter was involved in an accident at Basra airport.

-Flight Lieutenant Kristian Gover, 33 Squadron RAF.

August 4

A soldier died in an accident at Al Amarah.

-Private Christopher Gordon Rayment, 1st Battalion The Princess of Wales' Royal Regiment, aged 22.

August 9

A soldier was killed and several others injured in an attack on British vehicles in Basra.

-Private Lee O'Callaghan, Princess of Wales' Royal Regiment. He was 20 and from south London.

August 12

A soldier was killed and another seriously injured by an improvised explosive device attack at Basra.

-Private Marc Ferns, The Black Watch. He was 21 and from Glenrothes in Fife.

August 17 A soldier was killed in an exchange of fire with insurgents in Basra.

-Lance Corporal Paul Thomas, The Light Infantry. Aged 29, he was single and from Welshpool.

September 10

A soldier died in an traffic accident near Al Amarah.

-Fusilier Stephen Jones, The Royal Welch Fusiliers. He was 22, married, and from Denbigh.

September 28 Two soldiers died after the ambush of a military convoy south west of Basra.

-Corporal Marc Taylor, served with the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, attached to 1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery. He was 27, married with a daughter and from Ellesmere Port, Cheshire.

-Gunner David Lawrence, 1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery, he was aged 25 and came from Walsall, West Midlands.

October 29

A Black Watch soldier was killed following a vehicle accident in the North Babil Province in Iraq. The incident did not involve hostile action.

-Private Kevin Thomas McHale, 1st Battalion The Black Watch, aged 27, was single and came from Lochgelly, Fife.

October 31

-Staff Sergeant Denise Rose, of the Royal Military Police's Special Investigation Branch, was found dead at a military camp in Basra - the first British female soldier to die in Iraq since the campaign to remove Saddam Hussein began.

The 34-year-old from Liverpool was discovered dead from a gunshot wound at the Army base in the Shatt-al-Arab Hotel. The MoD said the incident is not thought to have been the result of hostile action.

November 4

Three soldiers of the Black Watch killed in a suicide attack in Iraq.

-Private Paul Lowe, 19, Sergeant Stuart Gray, 31, and Private Scott McArdle, 22, all from Fife, are killed in a blast at a vehicle checkpoint.

November 8

A Black Watch soldier is killed in a roadside bombing in Iraq, north of the regiment's base at Camp Dogwood.

-Private Pita Tukatukawaqa of the 1st Battalion The Black Watch died when his Warrior armoured vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb. The 27-year-old was married and came from Fiji.

December 17

-Acting Chief Petty Officer Simon Owen aboard HMS Chatham died while on patrol in the Gulf. The married 38-year-old from Plymouth was thought to have died from natural causes.

December 26

A soldier was found dead from a gunshot wound at Shaibah Logistic Base.

-Sergeant Paul Connolly, 33 - no suspicious circumstances.

2005

January 30

Ten personnel - nine from the Royal Air Force and one from the Army - killed when a RAF Hercules crashed 30 kilometres north west of Baghdad.

-Squadron Leader Patrick Marshall, Headquarters Strike Command.

-Flight Lieutenants David Stead, Andrew Smith and Paul Pardoel of 47Squadron, RAF Lyneham.

-Master Engineer Gary Nicholson, Chief Technician Richard Brown and Flight Sergeant Mark Gibson of 47 Squadron, RAF Lyneham

-Sergeant Robert O'Connor and Corporal David Williams, of RAF Lyneham

-Acting Lance Corporal Steven Jones, Royal Signals

March 28

A British soldier of the Tyne-Tees Regiment was found dead in his accommodation at Basra.

-An investigation into the death of Private Mark Dobson, 41, is still underway.

May 2

The death of a soldier from 1st Battalion The Coldstream Guards announced.

-Guardsman Anthony John Wakefield, 1st Battalion The Coldstream Guards, died during the early hours of May 2 as a result of wounds sustained during a routine patrol in Al Amarah, Iraq. He was a 24-year-old married father-of-three from Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

May 29 -Lance Corporal Brackenbury, 21, from East Yorkshire, died after an explosion in Amarah, north of Basra, which Iraqi police say was caused by a roadside bomb. The soldier, who was serving with the King's Royal Hussars in A Squadron, was in a military convoy passing nearby.

June 29

Signaller Paul William Didsbury, 18, of the Royal Signals, died after have accidentally shooting himself at Basra airport, in Basra, southern Iraq.

Mr Didsbury, of Blackpool, was serving with the 21st Signal Regiment

July 16

Three British soldiers from C Company, the 1st Battalion Staffordshire Regiment, died in a roadside bomb blast in the Risaala district of Al Amarah.

-Second Lieutenant Richard Shearer, 26, was from Nuneaton.

-Private Phillip Hewett, 21, was from Tamworth.

-Private Leon Spicer, 26, was also a Tamworth soldier.

September 5

Two British soldiers from C Company, 2nd Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, died when a roadside bomb exploded during a patrol near Az Zubayr, Basra province.

-Fusilier Donal Anthony Meade, 20, was from Plumstead, south east London.

-Fusilier Stephen Robert Manning, 22, was from Erith, Kent.

September 11

A British soldier is killed in what is believed to be a roadside bomb explosion near his convoy in Basra.

-Major Matthew Bacon, 34, from London, was serving as a staff officer with Headquarters Multi National Division South East.

October 15

The body of Captain Ken Masters, 40, is discovered in his accommodation in Waterloo Lines, Basra. The married father-of-two was responsible for the investigation of all in-theatre serious incidents.

October 18

A soldier is killed in a roadside bomb in Basra, southern Iraq.

-Sergeant Chris Hickey of 1st Battalion the Coldstream Guards died as a result of his injuries sustained from the bomb which went off at 11.20pm local time. He was married with a son.

November 21

A soldier on routine patrol died as a result of his injuries sustained from a roadside bomb in Basra.

-Sergeant John Jones, from 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, grew up in Castle Bromwich, Birmingham. He was married to Nickie and father to five-year-old Jack.

2006

January 30

A soldier is killed after being hit by enemy fire in the Maysan Province, southern Iraq.

-Lance Corporal Alan Douglas, 22, from the 7th Armoured Brigade, was on his first tour of duty in the region.

January 31

Corporal Gordon Pritchard, of the Scots Dragoon Guards, died when insurgents attacked three 7th Armoured Brigade vehicles in Um Qasr, south of Basra. Cpl Pritchard was from Edinburgh and was married with three children under five.

February 2

A soldier died in a road accident in Abu al-Khasib, south of Basra.

-Trooper Carl Smith, 23, of the 9th/12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales's). He had one son.

February 28

Two British soldiers were killed and a third injured in an incident in Amara.

-Captain Richard Holmes, 28, from 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment, attached to the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, lived in Winchester, Hampshire with wife Kate.

-Private Lee Ellis, 23, also from 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment, lived in Wythenshawe, Manchester with fiancee Sarah and daughter Courtney.

April 15

A soldier from the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards died of injuries sustained following an attack involving an improvised explosive device in southern Iraq.

- Lieutenant Richard Palmer, 27, a bachelor, from Ware, Hertfordshire, died after the vehicle he was commanding was caught in an explosion near Ad Dayr.

May 6

Five die in a helicopter crash in Basra, southern Iraq. Iraqi police say the helicopter was hit from the ground by insurgents.

- Flight Lieutenant Sarah-Jayne Mulvihill, 32, was the first British servicewoman to die in action. Originally from Canterbury in Kent, she was serving as a Flight Operations Officer based at RAF Benson in south Oxfordshire.

- Wing Commander John Coxen, from Royal Air Force Benson, was born in 1959. Married, he was originally from Liverpool and joined the RAF in 1983.

- Lieutenant Commander Darren Chapman, 40, a married father of three, was the commanding officer of 847 Naval Air Squadron based at Yeovilton.

- Lieutenant David Dobson, 27, was serving as a pilot with 847 Naval Air Squadron, based at Yeovilton and was single.

- Marine Paul Collins, 21, served as an Air Door Gunner with 847 Naval Air Squadron. He was also single and based at Yeovilton.

May 28

Two die in a roadside bomb attack during a patrol in Basra, southern Iraq. The Ministry of Defence say they were on a routine task in support of the Iraqi security forces.

- Lieutenant Tom Mildinhall, 26, served with the Queen's Dragoon Guards. He was single and lived in Battersea, south London.

- Lance Corporal Paul Farrelly, 27, served with the Queen's Dragoon Guards. He was married and lived in Runcorn, Cheshire.

July 16

One soldier dies of gunshot wounds during an operation to track down a militant leader in north Basra. Sajad Abu Aya, described as the southern commander of the Shia Mahdi Army, was captured in the operation.

- Corporal John Cosby, 27, served with the 1st Battalion the Devonshire and Dorset Light Infantry. He was unmarried and based in Catterick, north Yorkshire.

August 1

A soldier dies from wounds sustained during an overnight mortar attack on the coalition military base in Basra, southern Iraq.

    British soldiers killed in Iraq, G, 1.8.2006, http://www.guardian.co.uk/military/story/0,,1698893,00.html

Families of soldiers killed in Iraq win right to challenge legality of going to war

Thursday July 27, 2006
Guardian
Richard Norton-Taylor

Families of British soldiers killed in Iraq yesterday won a significant legal battle in their fight for an independent public inquiry into the government's decision to invade.

In what their lawyers called a "stunning victory", the families can challenge at a full court hearing the government's claim that the war in Iraq was legal.

Three of the country's most senior judges gave their ruling in the light of what they called the "importance of the issues and the uncertainty of the present position". It was "at least arguable", they added, "that the question whether the invasion was lawful (or reasonably thought to have been lawful) as a matter of international law, is worthy of investigation".

The case was brought by Rose Gentle, Peter Brierley, Beverley Clarke, and Susan Smith - all close relatives of British soldiers killed on active service in Iraq between March 20 2003 and June 28 2004.

Sir Anthony Clarke, master of the rolls - the country's top civil judge - Sir Igor Judge, and Lord Justice Dyson underlined the significance of the case by deciding to hear the arguments themselves rather than delegating it to less senior high court judges. The hearing will question the government's refusal to hold an independent inquiry into the circumstances leading to the invasion of Iraq. The families argue that an inquiry into the lawfulness of the invasion is essential on the basis of article 2 of the European human rights convention, which says that everyone's right to life is protected by law. The families argue that since the invasion of Iraq was unlawful, the military orders to send their relatives to Iraq were in breach of the article.

The judges, who overturned a previous high court ruling blocking the legal action, stressed yesterday that while they believed there was a "compelling reason" why they should hear the families' arguments, "formidable hurdles" remained in their way.

However, Phil Shiner, the families' solicitor, described the ruling as "a stunning victory" which would force the government to put evidence before the judges on how the country was taken to war. "In particular, the government must finally explain how the 13-page equivocal advice from the attorney general of March 7 2003 was changed within 10 days to a one-page completely unequivocal advice that an invasion would be legal.

"My clients believe he impermissibly changed his advice because he was sat on by the prime minister."

Leaks last year showed the attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, warned Tony Blair on March 7 2003 that British participation in the US-led invasion without a fresh UN resolution could be declared illegal and Britain faced the prospect of losing a case in an international court.

Rose Gentle, whose son, Gordon, was killed in June 2004, said yesterday he had been in Iraq "to fight for his country but I now know he should never have been sent there". She said she would keep fighting until she got a public inquiry. Peter Brierley, whose son, Shaun, was killed in March 2003, said: "I am convinced my son died for no good reason, as he should not have been sent to Iraq in the first place."

The hearing takes place on November 6.

    Families of soldiers killed in Iraq win right to challenge legality of going to war, G, 27.7.2006, http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,,1831095,00.html

Bombproof vehicles for troops in Iraq

July 23, 2006
The Sunday Times

MORE than 100 new heavily armoured patrol vehicles have been ordered by the government to protect British troops in Iraq against roadside bombs, writes Michael Smith.

The move — to be announced this week — follows a review ordered by Des Browne, the defence secretary, after the father of a soldier killed in a Snatch Land Rover accused the government of allowing soldiers to die needlessly to save cash.

Roger Bacon, whose son was killed by a roadside bomb last September, spoke out after the 18th death of a soldier in a Snatch Land Rover. Yesterday he welcomed the new move.

The latest vehicles will be upgraded versions of the armoured Cougars used by US marines in Iraq. They will have additional armour, making them the most protected vehicles of their kind in the world.

Browne, a former chief secretary to the Treasury, asked his former boss Gordon Brown to provide the tens of millions of pounds to rush new vehicles to Iraq, a senior defence source said yesterday.

Snatch Land Rovers cost about £50,000 apiece. The new vehicles cost about eight times as much but carry more troops.

Ministry of Defence (MoD)officials were ordered to bypass their complex procurement system and buy the best vehicle available. The Cougar, built in America by BAE Systems, came closest to fulfilling the requirement, but despite surviving a number of bomb attacks in Iraq it was still deemed to have insufficient armour.

“Browne accepted the arguments in favour of the Snatch Land Rover but ruled that the new range of roadside bombs meant that the situation had changed,” the source said. The MoD aims to have the Cougars in Iraq by the end of the year.

The US marines initially used them as the lead vehicles in their convoys but found them so effective against roadside bombs that they replaced all their Humvee vehicles with Cougars.

Yesterday General David Richards, head of Nato’s international security force in Afghanistan, described the situation in the country as “close to anarchy” and warned that western forces were short of equipment.

The RAF is trying to persuade MoD officials to buy the Predator unmanned spy plane for use in Afghanistan. They believe they need better surveillance after Taliban forces took over two towns in southern Helmand province undetected by coalition forces.

    Bombproof vehicles for troops in Iraq, STs, 23.7.2006, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2281708,00.html

Beckett unveils timetable for British troop withdrawal

June 20, 2006
Times Online
By Jenny Booth and agencies

The British-patrolled Maysan province will be the next area of Iraq to be handed over to local security forces, the Iraqi Foreign Minister said today.

Hoshyar Zebari, who is in London for talks with Margaret Beckett, the Foreign Secretary, said that the handover of control in Maysan would allow Britain’s troops there to be redeployed elsewhere in the south.

The UK has 800 personnel in Maysan, one of the four provinces that it currently patrols. More than 20 British soldiers have died in ambushes and roadside bombings around al-Amarah, the Maysan capital.

Today Mrs Beckett said that the process of transferring control from the multinational forces to Iraqi authorities in more of the country’s 18 provinces could be expected to take up to 18 months. The remaining two provinces patrolled by Britain are Dhiqar and Basra.

Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi Prime Minister, announced yesterday that Britain would hand over responsibility for patrolling neighbouring Muthana province to local authorities within a month, in the first region to undergo the "Iraqi-isation" of security since the fall of Saddam.

At a press conference in the Foreign Office, Mr Zebari said: "Yesterday, Prime Minister Maliki announced that the process of transferring security responsibilities from the coalition forces to Iraqi forces had started.

"Muthana province will be the first province to take advantage of that and this will be completed very soon. The next province that will follow, according to my discussions with Baghdad, would be Maysan.

"This will definitely allow the British forces there to be redeployed. We have our own plans to accelerate this process further. By the end of the year we hope that the Iraqi forces will be able to take more and more control over the security situation."

Mrs Beckett hailed the handover of Muthana as "an important milestone", reflecting the growing capabilities of Iraq’s armed forces and police. "We will see more provinces handed over as they meet the necessary security conditions over the next 12-18 months."

Mrs Beckett said that any handover of control to Iraqi forces would offer the Ministry of Defence "a greater degree of flexibility and room for manoeuvre" in its deployments in Iraq.

Mr Zebari added: "Part of our understanding with British military forces and other coalition forces working in Iraq, and in southern Iraq particularly, is the need for any redeployment not to leave behind any security vacuum and unless the readiness of Iraqi forces would be established, we would have not recommended any premature withdrawal.

"But we are confident that we will be able to fill the vacuum in Muthanna and in other provinces."

Michael Evans, Defence Editor of The Times, said that the 800 British troops in Maysan would not be brought home, but kept in reserve to cover emergencies in the Iraqi south.

"They will all complete their six months' tour of duty, although once that's over and they get rotated with the next lot there is scope for the Government to decide they need fewer troops in Iraq," he said.

"But I am sure they will keep them as a reserve force to start with. With the Italians pulling out, there will be a need for a force to act as a rapid response and go where they are needed."

Italy has 2,700 troops in Iraq, mostly in Nasiriyah, but 1,100 are due to begin to withdraw this month.

Mrs Beckett said that the UK backed an Iraqi proposal for an international compact to help to reconstruct the shattered country.

Baghdad hopes that the compact will be backed by international bodies such as the UN, World Bank and IMF, the five permanent Security Council members Britain, France, Russia, China and the US, as well as major donor countries from the Arab world and elsewhere.

Mr Zebari said that a security plan for Basra agreed with Des Browne, the Defence Secretary who visited Baghdad yesterday, involved a clear commitment from the Iraqi Government to deploy more troops in the city. He said the Government was "confident" that its forces were ready to start taking control of greater parts of the country.

Junichiro Koizumi, Japan’s Prime Minister, today announced the withdrawal of his country’s 600 ground troops from southern Iraq, saying they had accomplished their humanitarian mission. He offered no timetable for the withdrawal, but it was reported that a withdrawal order had immediately been issued.

Mrs Beckett thanked the Japanese for their contribution to the reconstruction effort.

    Beckett unveils timetable for British troop withdrawal, Ts, 20.6.2006, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7374-2234736,00.html

Iraq: 60 soldiers a month suffer mental illness

Published: 15 June 2006
The Independent
By Andy McSmith
 

The number of soldiers diagnosed with psychiatric problems brought on by the stress of service in Iraq has dramatically escalated since the beginning of the war, according to new figures from the Ministry of Defence.

In 2005, the military authorities were notified of 727 cases of troops with psychiatric disorders brought on by their period in Iraq - an average of 60 each month, or two every day.

The figure is nearly 10 per cent of the total British military presence in Iraq. It includes 66 troops who developed such serious mental problems that they had to be airlifted out for treatment back home.

It is also a sharp increase on official statistics released four months ago, which revealed that 1,333 servicemen had needed treatment in the first two and a half years after the outbreak of the Iraq war, an average of around 40 a month.

These can be added to the total of at least 6,700 British casualties in Iraq, including 113 killed and 4,000 who injured or ill enough to need to be flown out for treatment.

Tom Watson, the Armed Services minister, revealed in the Commons last night in a written answer to the Tory MP Philip Dunne that the Defence Analytical Services Agency had been notified of 727 personnel in 2005 alone who had been examined for suspected mental health problems and were "subsequently identified as having a psychiatric disorder related to their service in Iraq".

Some of those may have been suffering from traumas experienced early on in the conflict, which would have gone undetected for two years. Mr Watson conceded that there could be many more with mental problems that were at least partly caused by what they have endured in Iraq.

He added: "It can also be difficult to determine the underlying causes of some mental health problems, some of which could be caused by a combination of other events that occurred before or after service."

Mr Dunne said: "This figure has enormous ramifications for the ability of the armed forces to keep up to strength and to maintain the morale of their troops. The people I feel particularly sorry for are members of the Territorial Army, who are plucked out of ordinary life and sent into Iraq, where they perform an invaluable service, and are then expected to fit back into ordinary life."

Last month, Mr Watson said that members of the TA who had served in Iraq would be entitled to "enhanced" mental health care.

At least 70 ex-servicemen with mental health problems caused by the Iraq war are now being cared for by the charity Combat Stress, which receives £2.8m a year from the MoD. They expect that figure to rise sharply over the years, because there can be a delay of 10 or 15 years before the time when a soldier leaves the Army and when he seeks help for mental problems.

The Iraq veterans they are now treating are mostly in their twenties. Some have post-traumatic stress disorder. Others suffer from depression, high levels of anxiety, or from the effect of trying to solve their own problems using drink or drugs. The number of cases referred to the charity by GPs and others jumped by 26 per cent last year and another sharp rise is expected this year.

"The figures are probably the bow wave of what we are likely to see in future, but we as a charity are hoping to be around when they make their way to our door," Combat Stress's spokesman Robert Marsh said.

The MoD maintains 15 mental health teams in the UK and has specialised defence units in six big NHS hospitals, to replace the military hospitals closed down after Labour came to power. The MoD has also spent millions having troops treated in private clinics.

    Iraq: 60 soldiers a month suffer mental illness, I, 15.6.2006, http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article1018575.ece

Five reported dead after gun battle between British troops, local militia

Updated 6/11/2006 1:23 PM ET
From wire reports
USA Today

AMARAH, Iraq — A provincial council in southern Iraq suspended all cooperation with the British military Sunday after overnight clashes between troops and Shiite militiamen left five Iraqis dead.

The violence in which a British soldier was wounded in the Maysan provincial capital of Amarah cast a shadow over British plans to hand over patrols in the region to Iraqi security forces this summer.

"We in the province of Maysan are in mourning for the shedding of the innocent blood of our martyrs and the injuring of old men, women and children by the occupation forces," the provincial council said in a statement.

The council ordered a halt to cooperation with British troops, demanded an inquiry into the deaths and called for intervention from the central government in Baghdad.

The governor of Maysan, Adel al-Maliki, told AFP that the provincial council would not meet Monday in protest of the deaths. Black banners would be hung on official buildings to honor those killed, he added.

Following a rocket attack on their base, British soldiers entered Amarah early Sunday. Five Iraqis were killed and a British soldier wounded during the ensuing battle with militiamen, local police said.

British troops acted properly in Sunday's incident, UK military officials said.

"We are doing everything we can to prevent this," said British military spokesman Sebastian Muntz. "That's why the forces went to go inside Amarah to arrest people and try and stop it."

UK soldiers came under attack after they entered the city's Risala neighborhood.

"There were a series of firefights where multinational troops were engaged from a variety of places," said Lt. Col. Richard Eaton, adding that the fighting started around 3:00 am local time.

"There was quite sustained gunfire, rocket-propelled grenade and small arms fire," he said. "It is probable that some terrorists were killed."

The battle lasted for an unusually long time, Eaton said, because a British Warrior armored vehicle became stuck in a ditch, requiring a recovery operation, which was ultimately successful. "That attracted some fire," he said

Amarah police reported that at least five people were killed, including a woman and a six-year-old boy.

"Whenever they (British forces) enter residential areas, they are always attacked," said Iraqi police Lt. Ali Aziz. The assailants were members of the Sadr's Mehdi Army, Aziz said.

British-patrolled southern Iraq was once relatively calm compared with the Sunni heartland north and west of Baghdad patrolled by U.S. troops but the region has seen an upsurge of unrest over the past month that has been blamed on mounting Shiite militia activity.

"The local politicans want to stop this," said Muntz. "It seems to be a rogue element of the militia that are not listening to their leadership."

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said in a May press conference with British Prime Minister Tony Blair that Maysan province would be under Iraqi security control by July.

But the governor, who is close to Shiite radical leader Moqtada al-Sadr, with whose Mehdi Army militiamen British troops clashed Sunday, said he did not believe coalition forces would leave.

"The handover of security is just an illusion, and they are just making fun of our beards," Maysan's Adel al-Maliki said. "Judging by the actions of the multinational forces, like these raids and arrests and killings of innocents, we don't think they have any intention of handing over security."

The British military spokesman acknowledged that the persistent violence complicated plans to turn over patrols of Maysan to Iraqi forces.

"It does mitigate against it to a certain extent," Muntz said.

Coalition reductions expected

Meanwhile, Iraq's national security adviser said he believed the number of coalition forces would drop below 100,000 by year's end. Mouwafak al-Rubaie also said the majority of coalition forces would leave before mid-2008.

"The more our Iraqi security forces, our police, our army, the more they grow in number, in training and are ready and able to perform and to protect our people, then the less we need of the multinational forces," Rubaie told CNN's Late Edition.

"The overwhelming majority of the multinational forces will leave probably before ... the middle of 2008."

The top U.S. commander in Iraq said Sunday he does not plan to ask President Bush for more troops during meetings this week, but he declined to say whether he would suggest a reduction of his forces.

"I constantly evaluate the situation," Gen. George Casey said. "And if I think I need more, I'll ask more. If I think I need less, I'll tell the president that I need less."

CASEY: Forces will gradually go home in coming months

White House officials have played down expectations of troop cutback announcements coming from the president's summit on Iraq.

Roadside bombs struck two Iraqi police patrols in separate attacks in north and south Baghdad, killing two people, at least one of them a police officer, and wounding 11.

At least nine other violent deaths were reported around the country.

Al-Qaeda in Iraq vowed Sunday to carry out "major attacks," insisting in a Web statement that it was still powerful after the death of al-Zarqawi. Insurgents Saturday posted an Internet video of the beheading of three alleged Shiite death squad members.

The attacks since the Thursday announcement of al-Zarqawi's death have been far from the mass bloodshed promised by his supporters. The government had imposed partial driving bans in Baghdad and Baqouba, which resulted in a slight drop in violence. An average of about 19 people a day were killed around Iraq in the past three days.

Continuing an already monthlong delay, the Iraqi parliament postponed its session to allow the main political blocs more time to agree on the exact powers of the Sunni Arab parliament speaker.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki met with party representatives Saturday but failed to break the deadlock.

Fellow Sunni insurgent groups sent condolences for al-Zarqawi in Internet messages Saturday and warned Sunnis not to cooperate with the Iraqi government, an apparent call for unity after U.S. forces killed the terror leader in a targeted airstrike Wednesday.

The Jordanian-born al-Zarqawi was the defining face of Iraq's insurgency. His tirades against the nation's majority Shiites and calls for the once-dominant minority Sunni Arabs to rise up and kill them were accompanied by the killings of thousands of Shiites in attacks.

Iraqi and U.S. leaders acknowledged that al-Zarqawi's killing was not likely to stop the insurgency, now in its fourth year. But they hoped it would rob his supporters of an iconic figure around which they rallied.

Saturday's grisly video was the first known footage of insurgent beheadings posted in months and was clearly designed to quash hopes that the Sunni-dominated insurgency might end attacks on Shiites.

In other violence Sunday:

•Drive-by gunmen fired on a civilian car, killing the driver, police said.

•Police in the southern Baghdad neighborhood of Dora found four unidentified bodies, all of which had been tortured and shot.

•Baghdad police said they separately found the body of a Health Ministry security guard who appeared to have been shot in the head after being tortured and the corpse of a taxi driver who was reported kidnapped yesterday in Dora.

•Unidentified gunmen in Mosul shot and killed a former Iraqi Army officer, police said. The assailants were in a speeding car and killed Ali Ahmed Abdullah with a machine gun as he was walking in one of the city's commercial centers.

•A roadside bomb in western Mosul killed one bystander and injured six others, police Col. Abdul-Karim Ahmed said.

Contributing: Agence-France Presse; The Associated Press

    Five reported dead after gun battle between British troops, local militia, UT, 11.6.2006, http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2006-06-11-market-fire_x.htm

Daily attacks and abuse - the new reality for British troops

June 05, 2006
The Times
By Ned Parker

Our correspondent goes on patrol with members of Delta company in Basra, dodging the taunts and the missiles

IN A dirt alley strewn with trash and puddles of black sewage an Iraqi teenager smiled at me, slicing his throat with his fingers, as a gang of more than 30 sulky adolescents chanted “Down with Britain” and “Long live the Mehdi Army”.

“F*** off,” a second teenager shouted at one of the 12 British officers in our foot patrol. Others yelled taunts of “RPG, RPG” — rocket-propelled grenade. As we walked on, the teenagers began crowding round the soldiers, who kept their assault rifles pointed at the rooftops in case of snipers.

After 15 minutes, with the mood growing steadily uglier, the patrol piled back into its vehicles, which was when the stone throwing began. Rocks bounced off the sides of the armoured jeeps. A hard mud clod smashed into my vehicle’s sweltering confines as the patrol returned to base for a respite.

That was just a minor incident in one of Basra’s deadliest weekends since the US-led invasion of Iraq three years ago.

Increasingly, a city that was once the success story of post-Saddam Iraq resembles war-torn Baghdad. On Saturday a suicide car bomb tore apart a packed street market, killing 28 people. The attack, one of the worst yet in Iraq’s second city, was seen by many as a pointed message from Basra’s Shia groups to Nuri Maliki, Iraq’s Prime Minister, who last week declared a state of emergency.

Early yesterday the Shia-dominated police force opened fire on a Sunni mosque in the city. Up to 12 people were killed as the security forces and Sunnis disputed whether those in the mosque were armed or innocent civilians.

My foot patrol enjoyed only a brief respite before being called back into Basra’s scalding 50C (122F) heat, amid rumours that Shia mobs were planning to attack Sunni mosques.

It is a far cry from the halcyon days after the invasion, when British forces could patrol without helmets or any ostentatious display of weapons. Now Basra is threatened by gang wars among its Shia factions and attacks on the city’s dwindling Sunni community. Saturday’s suicide bomb “was probably one of the groups here struggling for power, struggling for the ascendancy over control of Basra province. It was probably trying to send a message to the Prime Minister to basically keep your nose out,” said Major Rob Yuill, who trains Basra’s police.

“It’s . . . drifting toward a situation like Bosnia,” he went on, comparing the targeting of Basra’s Sunni minority to the fierce ethnic conflict of the Balkans in the early 1990s. “We’re stuck in the middle. We’re trying to assist the Iraqi police and Army, but we get caught up in it,” said Sergeant Lans Downe, 25, commenting on life on the frontline of Basra’s social meltdown. Nine British soldier were killed in 50 attacks in May.

Every time the men of Sergeant Downe’s Delta company go out in their Warrior armoured personnel carriers, they are tailed by cars or watch men on cell phones marking their movements and passing the information to someone farther down the road.

“You are constantly being watched. They put a name on where you are and what you are doing,” said Sergeant Downe, from Bristol. “Every time you are out (the danger) is a constant. One moment civilians will ask you for water. The next they bomb you . . . It’s worse than it was in Northern Ireland.”

Whenever they cross over or under a bridge the troops brace themselves for an attack. The bombs are often undetectable, camouflaged in fibre glass, breeze blocks or paper maché rocks. “The more we take off the street, the more they make,”said Sergeant Downe.

Their platoon tries to avoid going out on Saturdays, because that is when the worst attacks happen. But rocks and breeze blocks are hurled at their vehicles almost daily. When they are sent to secure the scene of a bombing, the mobs, made up of teenagers, escalate to Molotov cocktails and homemade grenades.

There are only about 700 British troops actively patrolling the city of 1.5 million. To protect Basra they are banking on a police force that, according to Major Yuill, has only “a small minority” of good cops.

The men in Delta company admit that they do not have the eyes and ears to rein in the death squads and gangs that have caused Basra’s murder rate to skyrocket. “A lot of it happens behind the scenes. There are a lot of side streets. It happens in the shadows, in the places we don’t know about,” Sergeant Downe said.

“Basra is a large area. We’re a small force,” said Lance Corporal Gavin Wooten, 25, from Sheffield and another member of Delta company.

As the city gets rougher, fewer Iraqis want to work with the British troops. Delta company has gone from having six or seven translators to just two.

“All the Islamic parties are killing the translators,” said one of the few who remain with the British, who goes by the name Jack. He lives on a British base and lists the names of at least four of his friends who have been killed.


 

- In all at least 44 people were killed across Iraq yesterday as Mr Maliki failed to gain acceptance for his candidates to head the key security ministries.

In addition to those killed at the mosque in Basra, gunmen near the village of Ayn Layla, northeast of Baghdad, stopped vehicles along the road and shot their occupants, killing 20 people including seven minibus drivers and seven students, police said. Twelve others were killed in a series of incidents elsewhere. (AFP)

    Daily attacks and abuse - the new reality for British troops, Ts, 5.6.2006, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2211182,00.html