Sapper Luke Allsopp was killed in combat, according to his sister

LONDON, March 28 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - The family of one of two dead British soldiers has accused Prime Minister Tony Blair of "lying" when he charged the men were executed by Iraqi forces, British media reported Friday, March 28.

Such claims are "lies," the sister of Sapper Luke Allsopp told the Daily Mirror. Nina Allsopp said officers from his barracks told her he had died on the spot in battle.

The heartbroken sister of ambushed soldier Luke Allsopp insisted Thursday, March 27, night: "My brother was not executed." Nina hit out at lies surrounding his death.

Grieving Nina - 29 Friday - said: "We have been told by the Army that Luke died in action.

"The Colonel from his barracks came around to our house to tell us he was not executed. Luke's Land Rover was ambushed and he died instantly.

"The Colonel told us he was doing what he could to set the record straight. We are very angry.

"It makes a big difference to us knowing that he died quickly. We can't understand why people are lying about what happened.

What Really Happened

"It must be a mistake. It's important to us that people know the truth. That people know what really happened."

Nina was stunned when she heard the Prime Minister  had gone on TV to denounce the "executions" of Sapper Luke, 24, and Staff Sgt Simon Cullingworth, 36.

Blair, speaking in America, condemned gruesome footage of the dead soldiers shown on Iraqi TV as an act of cruelty beyond comprehension.

Describing the images as a "reality" of Saddam Hussein's regime he said: "His thugs prepared to kill their own people, the parading of prisoners of war, and now the release of those pictures of executed British soldiers.

"If anyone needed any further evidence of the depravity of Saddam's regime, this atrocity provides it.

"It is yet one more flagrant breach of all the proper conventions of war.

"More than that, to the families of the soldiers involved, it is an act of cruelty beyond comprehension. Indeed, it is beyond the comprehension of anyone with an ounce of humanity in their souls."

The PM added: "On behalf of the British Government, I would like to offer my condolences particularly to the families and friends of those two brave young men who died in the service of their country and of the ordinary Iraqi people to whom we are determined to bring a better future."

But last night Nina said at the family's home in Dagenham, Essex: "I have not been able to watch the TV reports or listen to the Prime Minister talking of an execution.

"It's so upsetting. And it's not what happened to Luke."  

Later Blair refused to give further details of what he knew about the soldiers' deaths.

Pressed by reporters about his claim they were executed, he would only say: "The reason I used the language I did was because of the circumstances that we know."

Respected TV political editor Adam Boulton was one of those who quizzed Blair at Camp David over his claim.

He commented on Sky News last night: "Whether it was wise for the Prime Minister to use a word like 'execute' without being entirely sure only time will tell."

Blair's official spokesman later admitted there was no conclusive proof that the soldiers had been executed.

He said: "It is a terrible thing to talk in these terms, but since we don't have the two bodies we can't be absolutely sure.

"But every piece of information we have points in the direction of these men having been executed in a very brutal fashion.

"It includes the fact that the two bodies were found some distance from the vehicles in which they were traveling and had lost their protective equipment, flak jackets and helmets. It does point in that direction."

However, Iraq strongly denied the claim. Information Minister Mohammad Saeed al-Sahaf accused Blair of twisting the truth.

He said when Iraq released pictures of the soldiers "the situation became tense in Britain because the British Prime Minister lied to the public".

He added: "To launch a psychological war on us he said, 'You have executed (them)'.

"We haven't executed anyone.

They are either killed in the battlefield or the rest are captured."