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LONDON - US and British officials denied trying to bury details of a 'friendly fire' incident on Tuesday after a classified cockpit video was leaked showing US pilots weeping after mistakenly killing a British soldier in Iraq.
A British coroner's probe into the death of Lance Corporal Matty Hull has reignited questions over whether the allies did enough to shield troops from friendly fire and whether both countries wanted to keep the details hidden.
"I'm going to be sick," one pilot in an A-10 attack jet can be heard saying when he realises he has opened fire on a friendly convoy. "We're in jail, dude."
Another pilot is later heard weeping: "I'm dead."
Hull was killed when his convoy of light British tanks was strafed by American A-10 attack jets during the second week of the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
Washington said its own investigation had concluded that the pilots did nothing wrong.
"The investigators determined that the pilots followed the procedures and processes for engaging targets," US Defence Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said.
But US officials have refused British requests to allow the pilots to travel to Britain to testify in the inquest.
Hull's widow said she was glad the video was now public.
"I would have preferred to hear the evidence from the US pilots themselves. However, they cannot be compelled to come and they have not come voluntarily. The video is therefore vital evidence and must be shown," Susan Hull said in a statement.
"After years of being told that it did not exist or was secret I feel that it was right not to give up hope."
Coroner Andrew Walker suspended his inquest last week after learning there was video of the incident that the authorities would not allow Hull's family to see. His clerk said the video would now be shown as it is in the public domain after the leak.
Friendly fire has been a burning issue for both countries since the first Gulf War in 1991, when nine British servicemen were killed in a mistaken attack by US aircraft.
Precautions have since been taken - orange panels were fitted to allied vehicles to alert pilots during the 2003 invasion. The pilots on the tape can be heard concluding the panels were "orange rocket launchers" before opening fire.
Washington had given the video to British authorities but refused to allow it to be shown in public, saying it might contain security secrets. The British government had said it could not release it without US permission.
"There has never been any intention to deliberately deceive or mislead LCoH Hull's family," the British Ministry of Defence said in a statement.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said reports of the transcripts of the incident showed a "clear expression of remorse" from those involved.
"These people immediately understood that this just was a terrible, terrible mistake and that they felt an immediate remorse for what happened," McCormack told reporters.
- REUTERS
