Video of US friendly fire unleashes storm in UK

US and British officials denied trying to bury details of a "friendly fire" incident yesterday when a cockpit video was leaked in which US pilots are heard weeping after mistakenly killing a British soldier in Iraq.

A British coroner's inquest into the death of Lance Corporal Matty Hull has reignited questions over whether the allies did enough to shield troops from friendly fire - and whether both countries wanted to keep the details hidden.

"I'm going to be sick," one pilot in an A-10 attack jet can be heard saying when he realises he has opened fire on a friendly convoy. "We're in jail, dude."

Another pilot is later heard weeping: "I'm dead." Hull was killed when his convoy of light British tanks was strafed by American A-10 attack jets during the second week of the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

Coroner Andrew Walker suspended his probe last week after he learned that there was a cockpit video which he had not been allowed to use or to show the family.

Washington had given the video to British authorities but refused to allow it to be shown to the coroner, saying it might contain security secrets. The British government denied hiding it but said it could not release it without US permission.

After the video was shown all day on UK television, a US defense official said it could now form part of the inquest.

"We have authorized the UK Ministry of Defense to display the full video in camera to the coroner and the family in the presence of a Ministry of Defense authority," a Pentagon official said on condition of anonymity.