HL Deb 17 November 2004 vol 666 cc162-3WA
Lord Lester of Herne Hill

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Written Answer by the Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean on 7 June (WA 1), whether they accept the findings of the scientific study, published by the Lancet on its website on 28 October, that 100,000 Iraqi civilians have died in Iraq since the invasion, mostly as a result of air strikes by coalition forces. [HL4724]

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean

I refer the noble Lord to the Written Statement I made on 17 November concerning the report in theLancet, which alleges that 100,000 more Iraqis have died since the invasion than one would have predicted from previous mortality rates. It does not claim they were civilians or that most of them were killed by coalition air strikes. In any case, we dispute its estimate and rely on the figures provided by the Iraqi Ministry of Health.