Phosphorus ‘may have killed’ in Iraq

[rossana <rossana at comodinoposta.org>]

Phosphorus ‘may have killed’ in Iraq
By Guy Dinmore in Washington
Published: November 16 2005 23:39 | Last updated: November 16 2005 23:39

US IraqThe US military on Wednesday acknowledged it might have killed 
civilians in the Iraqi city of Falluja with white phosphorus munitions 
during the battle against insurgents a year ago.

The Pentagon insisted civilians had not been targeted, however, and that 
it had avoided unnecessary casualties by evacuating the city before the 
offensive.

White phosphorus, which is fired by artillery or mortars, can be used as 
an incendiary device or to create a smokescreen.

While it is not classified as a chemical weapon, the chemical is covered 
by Protocol III of the 1980 Convention on Conventional Weapons, which 
prohibits the use of incendiary weapons against military forces located 
within concentrations of civilians – as was the case with the insurgents 
in Falluja. The US is party to the convention but, unlike a number of 
its allies, including the UK, it has not signed Protocol III.

Last week, Italy’s Rai 24 news channel broadcast a documentary that 
alleged many civilians had been burned to death by the incendiary 
devices during the assault. It showed bodies burned to the bone inside 
clothes that remained intact.

Narmin Uthman, Iraq’s acting human rights minister, said an Iraqi team 
would investigate the claims.

“The documentary offers no compelling evidence as to how the people in 
the various images actually died,” Lieutenant-Colonel Barry Venable, a 
Pentagon spokesman, told the FT. He said he was not aware of any US 
inquiry into the issue.

Asked if it was possible civilians had been killed by white phosphorus, 
he replied: “It would not be out of the realm of the possible.”

The UK defence ministry said the British army only used white phosphorus 
for smokescreens.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/5fc7a7b4-56f9-11da-b98c-00000e25118c.html