Attempt to prosecute Blair over Iraq fails
 

LONDON: A British court on Monday rejected an attempt by a former Iraqi general to bring a private prosecution against former Prime Minister Tony Blair over the invasion of Iraq in 2003.Blair’s decision to join the US-led coalition that toppled Saddam Hussein has tainted the legacy of his 10 years in ******, and his critics in Britain and Iraq have been calling for him to face criminal action for years.

Iraqi General Abdel Waheed Shannan al Rabbat has been trying to bring a private prosecution against Blair and two of his former senior ministers for what his lawyers described as the crime of aggression.

But the High Court on Monday refused permission for a judicial review of an earlier ruling by a lower court that the action could **t go ahead as there was ** such crime under the law of England and Wales.

The general’s lawyers had argued that the earlier ruling, delivered in **vember last year, was based on an incorrect premise and that it should be reviewed by the Supreme Court. But two senior High Court judges rejected their arguments, saying they had ** prospect of success in the Supreme Court and therefore the judicial review should **t be authorised.

The judges accepted that there was a crime of aggression under international law, but said there was ** such crime under domestic law, which meant a prosecution for that crime could **t take place in domestic courts.

Blair and the two other targets of the action, former foreign affairs minister Jack Straw and former Attorney General Peter Goldsmith, have taken ** part in the legal proceedings.

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