UK pressures US for soldier testimonies at Iraqi 'friendly fire' inquests

Britain has summoned the US deputy ambassador to explain why soldiers have not turned up at inquests into British troops killed by friendly fire in Iraq.

Constitutional Affairs Minister Harriet Harman wrote to ambassador David Johnson after complaints from Oxfordshire coroner Andrew Walker. It is believed no US servicemen have attended the inquests so far, including that of ITN reporter Terry Lloyd.

Ms Harman said it was "not acceptable" for US soldiers to remain absent. She told BBC News 24 the aim of the inquests was to determine the truth surrounding each incident: "It's a very important opportunity for the relatives to find out the circumstances of how their loved one came to meet their death," she said.

She said US soldiers would not be facing a criminal prosecution or ordered to pay compensation if they attended a hearing: "It's simply just allowing the relatives to know the truth and therefore it's just not acceptable for them not to turn up."

Ms Harman added that the Americans had said it was their policy to not attend the inquests: "If that's the case I think they need to change the policy." She also said any British soldier involved in the death of a US soldier would be expected to attend a subsequent hearing: "Were it to happen our troops would co-operate and go to America and be prepared to give information," she said.

The mother of a British serviceman killed in the first Gulf War welcomed the government's move. Anne Leech lost her 20-year-old son Kevin after British troops in Warrior armoured vehicles were attacked by US warplanes west of Kuwait.

Mrs Leech, from Prudhoe, Northumberland, said: "We didn't want a witch hunt, we just wanted the truth. We would have been happy to have them give evidence by video link, they wouldn't necessarily have had to attend the inquest. We just wanted to know what happened."

Last month Mr Walker, who conducts the majority of inquests, called on the attorney general to extradite the marines involved in the case of Terry Lloyd.

Mr Walker delivered a verdict of "unlawful killing" over the case, in which Mr Lloyd, 50, was shot by a marine while in a makeshift ambulance near the Shatt Al Basra Bridge on 22 March 2003.

The coroner also criticised the US for failing to name or send witnesses to another inquest in October into the deaths of two RAF men shot down by a US missile after completing a bombing raid on Baghdad in 2003.

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