Soldiers' families launch bid for Iraq war inquiry

(Filed: 17/08/2005)

The families of 17 soldiers killed during the Iraq war and its aftermath have launched a legal bid to secure an independent inquiry into the legality of the conflict.

Two of the bereaved parents, Reg Keys and Rose Gentle, attended the High Court for the lodging of papers in the case.

Mr Keys, who is the father of Tom Keys who was killed in Al Majar, near Basra, on June 24, 2003, while serving with the Royal Military Police, said they would not be at court today "if weapons of mass destruction had been found in Iraq".

He read out a list of 10 of the 17 soldiers who lost their lives.

"We most strongly feel our sons were sent into a conflict not backed by international law or the United Nations," Mr Keys said.

"Our boys were fully prepared to lay their lives down to defend their country.

"They were sent to war on a falsehood, against a background of propaganda of weapons of mass destruction."

Rose Gentle, from Pollok, Glasgow, whose 19-year-old son Gordon, of the Royal Highland Fusiliers, was killed by a roadside bomb in Basra on June 28, 2004, said her son was sent to Iraq "on a pack of lies".

Mrs Gentle said: "We intend to fight this until we get to the truth. We want to get the truth for our boys."

The parents argue that, under human rights laws, if the UK state is involved in the use of lethal force there must be an independent inquiry. The court will also be asked to decide the remit of any inquiry.

The families want an inquiry which will cross-examine the Prime Minister, the Attorney General, the Defence Secretary at the time, Geoff Hoon, and the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw.


Previous story: 43 killed in Baghdad triple car bombing

Next story: Two dead as 200 bombs explode in Bangladesh

Link Here