Iraq friendly fire death deemed criminal

A British coroner ruled yesterday a US friendly fire air strike, that killed a British soldier, was "criminal", a scathing verdict in a case that has exposed rifts between the Iraq allies.

A US A-10 tankbuster attack plane killed Lance Corporal Matty Hull by firing on his vehicle near Basra in the first week of the 2003 invasion, after the American pilots mistook Mr Hull's British convoy for Iraqis.

"The attack on the convoy amounted to an assault. It was unlawful because there was no lawful reason for it and in that respect it was criminal," coroner Andrew Walker said, recording a verdict of "unlawful killing".

He said the planes were not in danger and the incident could not therefore be justified as self-defence. US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack disputed the coroner's findings.

"We certainly would not agree with any conclusion that categorises this as a criminal act," he told reporters in Washington. "There was a terrible tragedy. There was an unfortunate chain of events that led to the actions that resulted in the death of this individual during a time of war."

Washington has said its own investigation into the incident exonerated the pilots. An earlier British military probe concluded "procedures were not followed" because the planes opened fire without seeking clearance from ground controllers.

The case has been covered extensively in British media, where the issue of friendly fire deaths has been vivid since the first Gulf War in 1991, when another US A-10 killed nine British soldiers in a mistaken attack.

British commentators have said Mr Hull's death - and the Pentagon's insistence no one was to blame - demonstrate that rules for US pilots allow them to be more gung-ho than their British comrades.

Washington does not publish the "rules of engagement" that explain when its forces can fire, but strongly denies they behave irresponsibly.

In a cockpit video, the US pilots are repeatedly told there are no friendly forces in the area. They can be heard convincing themselves that orange panels - meant to mark the British vehicles as friendly - were in fact orange Iraqi rocket launchers, before they open fire without seeking permission.

The coroner and Mr Hull's family have repeatedly accused Washington of trying to hide details from the inquest. At one point Mr Walker suspended the inquest when Washington refused to allow him to see the cockpit video.