Blair pays tribute to dead soldiers
Prime Minister Tony Blair today emphasised the important role British forces were playing in Iraq following the deaths of three soldiers from the Black Watch regiment.
Paying tribute to the soldiers this morning at a press conference with Iraqi interim prime minister, Iyad Allawi, Mr Blair said: “The job they are doing there is of crucial importance in making sure democratic elections can go ahead.”
The soldiers were killed on Thursday when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a vehicle check point they were manning near their base at Camp Dogwood, 20 miles south of Baghdad.
Their deaths have provoked anger among Scottish nationalists who claim there will be shock and grief across Scotland, where the Black Watch regiment is from. SNP leader Alex Salmond said the events were an “absolute tragedy for all involved”.
He added: “The bravery of those soldiers in Iraq contrasts sharply with the chicanery of the politicians who sent them there in the first place.”
The 850-strong Black Watch regiment had only recently moved into the dangerous US-controlled zone close to Baghdad.
The soldiers had extended their area of operation to east of the River Euphrates to try to prevent further rocket attacks on Camp Dogwood when the deaths of the soliders – named as Sgt Stuart Grey, Pte Paul Lowe and Pte Scott McArdle – occurred.
Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon, who described the deaths as a “terrible incident”, this morning did not rule out the possibility of other British soldiers replacing the Black Watch after they return to the UK before Christmas.
“There can be no absolute guarantees that it will not be necessary to replace people in position. What I can say is that it will not involve the Black Watch and that in my judgment it will be unlikely that it will be necessary.”
Mr Blair said the soldiers were doing vital work to ensure the elections in Iraq went ahead: “Our purpose and our resolve has got to be equally firm to make sure those elections do go ahead so that the Iraqi people get the chance to have their say so that Iraq becomes a stable and prosperous country.”
He added: “The difference that will make to the whole of the region, and therefore to the security of countries such as Britain too, is immeasurable.
Shadow Conservative Defence Secretary Nicholas Soames paid tribute to the dead soldiers: “My Party extends its deepest condolences to the families of the three soldiers of the Black Watch who have given their lives in action.”
Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman, Sir Menzies Campbell, said he believed the soldiers would be determined to continue to show their “professionalism and commitment”.
