Twenty three members of parliament lodged a motion on Wednesday to impeach British Prime Minister Tony Blair on charges of "gross misconduct" over his justification for invading Iraq.

The impeachment bid would be the first in Britain since a failed attempt to prosecute a foreign secretary in the mid-19th century. Its passing chances are minimal because it isn't supported by the two main opposition parties, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.

The impeachment motion, that was filed in the House of Commons by 10 Conservatives, two Liberal Democrats as well as nine Welsh or Scottish nationalists, aims more at punishing and humiliating Blair if it goes for a vote.

Its backers, including well-known figures like novelist Frederick Forsyth and actor Corin Redgrave, say that Blair misled the country over the threat of Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction, violating "the fundamental principle of parliamentary democracy" that the government should tell the truth to MPs.

"This is born out of the frustration of many parliamentarians that we simply cannot hold the prime minister to account in any other way," said Jenny Tonge, member of parliament (MP) for the opposition Liberal Democrats.

"It doesn't matter where it goes. The important thing is to show we're trying," she added.

"Gross misconduct'

The motion demands setting up a parliamentary committee to analyze Blair's conduct on Iraq and to decide within two days on whether there are reasons for impeaching him on charges of "gross misconduct in his advocacy of the case for war and in his conduct of policy in connection with that war".

It states that the committee should also examine the findings of the Iraq Survey Group that Saddam Hussein did not possess weapons of mass destruction at the time of war as well as UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's announcement that the war was illegal.

Blair's Labor Party has more than 150 seats in the House of Commons. Labor MPs haven't signed the motion although its supporters say that some Labor members secretly back it.

The MPs from many opposition parties want to force a debate in parliament over the Prime Minister's pre-war assertion that Iraq possessed banned weapons that posed a threat. No WMD have been discovered since the war started in March 2003.

More MPs would have to sign the motion for a debate to take place.

"Unjust and illegal war"
Blair's popularity ratings have declined since the invasion. However, he is expected to win the next election which could be held in May 2005. He had apologized for the wrong intelligence on Iraq but he didn't say sorry for participating in the war and insisted that he did not mislead parliament or the public.

Scottish author Iain Banks said; "I see this as a chance for parliament to begin righting the great wrong done to it, the country and the cause of international peace by the unjust and illegal war instigated by George W. Bush and supported by Tony Blair,"  

Welsh nationalist MP Adam Price launched a campaign during the summer to have Blair impeached when he published a 99-page report entitled "A Case to Answer".  "We must make a stand or watch the democracy we have fought so often for against foreign enemies be subverted from within," he said.

"The rules of constitutional conduct have been brushed aside. The cabinet table has been replaced with the sofa, cabinet minutes with e-mail and the facts replaced with belief," Price added.

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