Blair accused of genocide in Iraq

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http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/story.jsp?story=428530

By Stephen Castle in Brussels
29 July 2003


Tony Blair was accused yesterday of war crimes including genocide, as a dossier of 22 alleged incidents involving British troops in Iraq was lodged with a new international court in The Hague.

The complaint, brought by Greek lawyers, also mentions Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, Geoff Hoon, the Secretary of State for Defence, Adam Ingram, the Armed Forces Minister, and five others, including the Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Mike Jackson.

Members of the Athens Bar Association delivered their dossier in person yesterday with the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno Ocampo.

The court issued a statement saying: "The Office of the Prosecutor handed a written letter acknowledging receipt of this communication to the members of the Association and will review the content of the communication and the dossier." The Athens Bar Association argues that the war in Iraq breached international treaties such as the Charter of the United Nations, the Geneva Conventions and the ICC's own Statute. Zoe Konstantopoulou, a member of the committee that drafted the complaint, said: "We believe the court will live up to its mandate and take up a case which is under its jurisdiction."

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