British lawmakers ask UN to try Blair over Iraq
FORTY British lawmakers are not folding their arms over Prime Minister Tony Blair's invasion of Iraq in concert with his United States (U.S.) counterpart George W. Bush.
In a letter to the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, on July 20, 2004, the parliamentarians asked the world body to take Britain to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to establish the legality or otherwise of the Iraq war.
And in Baghdad yesterday, insurgents continued their campaign, killing a senior Iraqi official and his body guards. A woman and her child were also not spared by the militants.
The London-based Daily Mirror newspaper reported yesterday that the cross-party group believes Blair was in breach of the UN Charter when he followed Bush to invade Iraq.
The lawmakers in the letter asked for an "advisory opinion" from the ICJ on whether it was legal for the war to be declared when it had not been approved by the UN Security Council.
"It is clear that, in Britain and the U.S., the Iraq war was justified on the basis of intelligence reports of current and serious threats from weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
The WMD was purportedly held by Iraq, all of which turned out to be without foundation," they wrote in the letter.
"We look to the court for an advisory opinion on this war, not only to address the casualties and damage done to the people and country of Iraq, but also to offer clear guidelines of the future about the legality of pre-emptive wars," they added.
Continuing, the legislators said that "lots of people have concerns about the legitimacy of the war and it seems we do need to have clarification on this," Alan Simpson, a Labour Party lawmaker, who is leading the group, was quoted by the newspaper as saying.
Lord Butler's report issued earlier this month cleared Blair of distorting British intelligence on Iraqi banned weapons but admitted that dethroned Iraqi President Saddam Hussein did not have significant, if any, stocks of banned weapons.
The report has given Blair's critics fresh grounds to question his credibility.
The slain top Interior Ministry official was among eight people killed in a series of car bombs and assassinations yesterday.
The renewed attack is seen as mounting a fresh security challenge to the interim government ahead of a major political gathering expected this week.
The U.S. military said a suicide car bomb exploded outside an American base near the northern city of Mogul, killing an Iraqi woman, her child and an Iraqi guard.
Three U.S. soldiers and two Iraqi security personnel were wounded. The military said the car was packed with mortar shells, but these did not detonate, lessening the impact.
In Baghdad, gunmen shot Mussah al-Awadi, a senior official in charge of Tribal Affairs as he left his house, an Interior Ministry source said. Two bodyguards were also killed.
The gunmen also opened fire on five women who work as cleaners for U.S. firm Bechtel in the southern city of Basra, killing two and wounding two others, one survivor said. The women were waiting for a bus to take them to work when they were attacked.
"I pretended to be dead so they didn't shoot me, I was covered in the blood of my friends," said an emotional Montaha Khalil, who was unhurt.
Police said no one was hurt in a separate car bombing in Baghdad, which coincided with several mortar attacks that wounded one person. A bomb also exploded under a car in Tikrit, north of Baghdad, wounding several people, police said.
Despite the violence, Iraq has said it would push ahead later this week with a national conference aiming to give the people a real say in the country's affairs.
The UN has, however pushed for a delay, saying more time was needed to prepare for an event that would bring together 1,000 Iraqis from across the country to select a 100-member National Council to oversee the interim government until elections next year.
It is due to kick off today and will last two or possibly three days, officials have said.
Guerrillas have repeatedly targeted Iraqis they accuse of collaborating with U.S. forces or firms operating in the country. Insurgents bent on undermining the interim government have also stepped up their campaign of hostage-taking to increase pressure on foreign troops and companies to leave.`
