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U.S. blocking inquest of 'friendly fire' on British
CBC News (Canada)
March 16, 2007

The American military won't co-operate with the inquest into the "friendly fire" killing of a British soldier by two U.S. pilots in southern Iraq, the British coroner charged Friday

"I believe that the full facts have not yet come to light," Oxfordshire Assistant Deputy Coroner Andrew Walker said, reading the verdict about whether he believed two U.S. pilots unlawfully killed 25-year-old Lance Cpl. Matty Hull.

Four other British troops were wounded, but Hull was the only soldier who died in the March 28, 2003, attack.

The British coroner ruled the deaths were entirely avoidable. The verdict is not binding in the U.S., which is not subject to British law.

Among the materials sought by Hull's family and the British coroner are details of the pilots' training hours and a copy of the U.S. rules of engagement, but these have not been supplied, the Hull family's lawyer said.

Walker and the Hulls also want to view the complete U.S. Friendly Fire Investigation Board report on the incident. The internal U.S. inquiry in November 2003 found neither of the men acted with negligence.

According to Hull's widow, Susan, the only copy they could obtain had 11 lines of text blacked out.

'Release the 11 lines'

"We have 1,110 lines of evidence from this document, but 11 are blanked out," she said on Thursday, flanked by family in a public appeal to U.S. President George W. Bush to disclose the full document.

"We implore you to release the 11 lines and let the coroner have these today, so that our family can feel more satisfied with the transparency of this inquest," she said.

According to the Hull family, the censored information contains an interview with the ground controller in charge of the two A-10 planes that fired at the British convoy, apparently mistaking it for Iraqi vehicles.

Walker also criticized the U.S. military for trying to keep secret a videotape of the attack recorded from the cockpit of the American plane.

'We're in jail, dude'

That recording was eventually leaked to a British newspaper, but U.S. officials only handed it over after the footage made its way onto the internet as well as television news networks around the world.

On the tape, one of the U.S. pilots comments, "We're in jail, dude," and begins to weep upon realizing his fatal error. "God damn it," the other pilot cries.

The pilots from the 190th Fighter Squadron of the Idaho Air National Guard said they spotted orange panels on top of the armoured vehicles and questioned whether they were Iraqi rocket launchers. They fired after ground control confirmed there were no "friendlies" in the region. In fact, the markers were used to identify the British convoys as allies.

Walker said he has requested that U.S. officials send the pilots to give evidence, but that he has had no luck. He called the lack of U.S. co-operation in the inquest "appalling."

With files from the Associated Press

Original Text

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