Chief prosecutor Ocampo described the charges as “one of the most significant” cases he has seen.

CAIRO, December 19 (IslamOnline.net) – A few days after a landmark court ruling in favor of Iraqi civilians killed by British troops, the International Criminal Court is investigating charges that the British army perpetrated war crimes in the Arab country, reported a leading British newspaper on Sunday, December 19.

Luis Moreno Ocampo, the chief prosecutor of The Hague-based ICC, said his office is giving “deserved weight” to the charges and is already gathering evidence to verify them, reported The Independent.

He said his investigators will soon ask London, one of the main sponsors of the ICC, to explain its war strategy in Iraq.

PeaceRights, a lawyers' group based at the University of Warwick, had submitted earlier in the year a dossier of war crimes committed by British soldiers in war-torn Iraq.

Drafted by eight leading international law experts, it accuses the British forces of using cluster bombs and depleted uranium armor-piercing shells in Iraqi civilian areas.

After the offensive on Iraq ended on April 9 last year, Iraqis began to complain about  unexploded cluster bombs that still litter their cities.

Eight weeks after Saddam Hussein’s ouster, unexploded cluster bombs, anti-tank mines and anti-personnel mines litter Iraq, The Observer had reported.

Aid agencies said hundreds of civilians have already been maimed after tampering with unexploded cluster bombs. The victims are often young children scavenging for the valuable metal that encases the explosives.

Depleted uranium (DU) used by the United States and its allies against Iraq has taken its toll on around 120,000 to 140,000 Iraqis, according to estimates by the Iraqi health ministry.

In a letter, seen by The Independent, Ocampo described the charges as “one of the most significant” cases he has seen.