Iraqi family may sue over bombing
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LONDON, England -- An Iraqi family living in Britain is considering suing the Ministry of Defence (MoD) after losing 10 relatives in a bomb attack in southern Iraq.
Three generations of the Hamoodi family were killed on April 5 when coalition forces bombed their home in Basra.
Their home was bombed because it was thought Saddam Hussein's cousin and top henchman Ali Hassan al-Majid -- known as "Chemical Ali" -- was staying there, said the family's lawyer Imran Khan.
Mazen Hamoodi, who left Iraq 27 years ago to live in Salford, northwest England, lost his mother, sister and several nieces and nephews in the attack.
Khan told Britain's Press Association that the family was considering bringing the civil case against the MoD for either alleged unlawful killing or gross negligence.
"We certainly think that the family or next of kin have a case," Khan said, adding if precision bombing was used in the knowledge that innocent civilians would be killed, that amounted to unlawful killing.
If the intelligence used was unreliable or not checked out correctly, there could be a case for gross negligence, he said.
Khan said the MoD has expressed sympathy and acknowledged the "unfortunate collateral damage" but did not accept responsibility for the deaths.
"This is not the sort of case where there is a bombing towards hostile shooting -- there was no apparent reason to bomb," said Khan, who now plans to write to the MoD informing it that if nothing more was heard, a civil suit and a demand for compensation would filed.
A MoD spokesman told CNN the Minister for the Armed Forces had written to the Hamoodi family to extend his sympathies.
The MoD will "robustly defend itself should a case be brought, we make every effort to avoid civilian casualties but regrettably these things happen," the spokesman said.
