Letter to Blair calls for Iraq death probe

FORMER ambassadors, senior military figures and a bishop were among 44 signatories of an open letter to British Prime Minister Tony Blair yesterday calling for an inquiry into the estimated 98,000 civilian deaths in Iraq.

The former assistant chief of defence staff Timothy Garden put his name to the appeal, alongside retired general Hugh Beach, ex-ambassador to Iraq Stephen Egerton and the Bishop of Coventry, Colin Bennetts.

The letter follows a study published in The Lancet in October which estimated the number of excess deaths in Iraq since the outbreak of hostilities in March last year at 98,000.

The study, by a team of American and Iraqi researchers, said most of the additional deaths were women and children, and said the risk of violent death was higher after the war.

Yesterday’s letter urged Mr Blair to set up an independent inquiry to establish with the greatest possible accuracy the number of people killed or injured.

“As you know, your government is obliged under international humanitarian law to protect the civilian population during military operations in Iraq, and you have consistently promised to do so,” said the letter.

“However, without counting the dead and injured, no one can know whether Britain and its coalition partners are meeting these obligations.”