US 'must attend friendly-fire inquests'

[cal04]

American soldiers should be forced to attend inquests on British service personnel killed in so-called "friendly- fire" attacks, a senior government minister said yesterday.

Harriet Harman, the Constitutional Affairs minister, said US personnel could not "hide from the court" by declining to give evidence in person to inquests. She called in the deputy US ambassador David Johnson yesterday and called for a change.

Ms Harman intervened after the Oxfordshire coroner, Andrew Walker, complained that US personnel had not attended inquests.

Mr Walker contacted officials at the Department for Constitutional Affairs in the summer after the Pentagon refused requests for US personnel to attend inquests. Instead, they sent written statements, some of which are understood to include censored passages.

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article2001518.ece

[Canuckistanian]

1. Canada would like a piece of that action

There have been two major "friendly fire" incidents that have killed Canadians.

[Briar]

2. Fat chance

unfortunately.