LONDON, May 3, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The families of ten British soldiers killed in Iraq threatened on Tuesday, May 3, to take Prime Minister Tony Blair to court for “lying” over reasons he gave for taking the country to war.

“These families are seriously concerned that their loved ones died in circumstances where the war was illegal,” said Phil Shiner, the lawyer representing the Military Families Against the War, reported Reuters.

Two days before the election, the families delivered a letter to Blair's Downing Street office asking him to order a full, independent public inquiry or else they would begin legal action.

Shiner said if Blair failed to hold an inquiry, they would immediately apply to the courts for a judicial review under the European Convention of Human Rights.

He further said that the families were also considering private criminal prosecutions against Blair and other members of the government.

On Monday, May 2, the wife of the latest soldier to be killed in the occupied Arab country held Blair directly responsible for his death.

“It's Tony Blair's fault,” Anne Toward, widow of Anthony Wakefield, said of his death in a roadside bomb attack in southern Iraq the same day.

“He sent all those troops out. He shouldn't have done it.”

Wakefield's death took to 83 the number of British military deaths in Iraq since the US-led invasion in March 2003, according to a Reuters tally.

Seeking to keep vivid the images of British soldiers coming home from Iraq in coffins, the father of a British soldier killed in the Arab country decided last month to stand against Blair as an independent candidate in the May 5 elections.

A library photo for an anti-Blair rally in London.

Liar

The beleaguered families vowed to pursue Blair “in or out of office”.

“Tony Blair as far as I'm concerned did lie and sent my son to his death unnecessarily. My son should not have been there,” said Peter Brierley, whose son Shaun died in March 2003.

Tony Hamilton-Jewell, whose brother Simon was killed in June 2003, echoed the same position.

“The man is a liar. He seems to be covering up for himself and the government,” he told reporters.

In a 13-page legal advice to Blair March 7, 2003, Goldsmith said military action against Iraq was likely to be challenged under international law based on a number of counts.

Although the question of Blair's integrity and his decision to take the country to war have dominated the election agenda over the past week, up-to-date polls say Blair's ruling Labour Party is still on course for a third consecutive victory.

Polls suggest Iraq has done little to harm Blair's lead as he tries to secure an unprecedented third successive election victory for the centre-left Labour party, Reuters said.

The MORI/Financial Times poll put Labour Tuesday on 39 percent, up three points from last week, the right-wing Conservatives down five on 29 and the centrist Liberal Democrats on 22.