Hold Iraq death probe, Blair told
Forty-six eminent figures including military men, ex-diplomats and bishops have written to Tony Blair urging a inquiry into civilian deaths in Iraq.
It comes after a study in medical journal the Lancet said nearly 100,000 died following the invasion.The study, by US and Iraqi researchers, suggested the risk of violent death was higher after the war than before.UK ministers rejected October’s Lancet figures, but have offered no alternative estimate of their own.
Independent inquiry
The letter’s publication marks the launch of a new campaign by health charity Medact and the Iraq Body Count project. Names on the letter include retired General Sir Hugh Beech, the Bishop of Coventry, and an ex-ambassador to Iraq. It also includes the former assistant chief of the defence staff Lord Garden and writer Harold Pinter.
