Prime Minister urged to hold Iraq death toll inquiry

Following a report from the Lancet estimating that over 98,000 civilians have been killed in the post-invasion phase of the Iraq conflict, establishment figures, senior military officers, diplomats and clerics have urged Tony Blair to inquire into the number of civilian deaths in the country.

The signatories to the letter sent to the Prime Minister called for an inquiry to establish how many civilians have been injured and killed and the reasons for the incidents in Iraq.

The Lancet report states that the risk from death due to violence is significantly higher than it was before the war.

In the letter to Mr Blair, the signatories wrote: "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.

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

"We therefore urge you immediately to commission a comprehensive, independent inquiry to determine with the greatest possible accuracy how many Iraqis have died or been injured since March 2003 - and the cause of those casualties.

"The inquiry should be independent of government, conducted according to accepted scientific methods and subjected to peer review so that all parties can be confident of the findings."

They called for the inquiry to report "regularly to Parliament and the public" for as long as British forces remain in Iraq.

Last month the government quoted figures from the Iraq Ministry of Health that estimated almost 3,900 civilians had been killed and 16,000 injured in a six-month period to October this year.

(SP/MB)