UK’s Hague accused of complicity in Pakistan drone strikes

PanARMENIAN.Net - Lawyers for the family of a man killed in a U.S. drone attack in Pakistan said they would begin legal action against Britain'sForeign Secretary William Hague on Monday, March 12 accusing him of complicity in strikes they say broke international laws.

According to Reuters, London law firm Leigh Day & Co said it had "credible, unchallenged" evidence that Hague oversaw a policy of passing British intelligence to U.S. forces planning attacks against militants in Pakistan. It plans to issue formal proceedings against Hague at the High Court in London on behalf of Noor Khan, whose father was died in a drone attack last year.

Malik Daud Khan was part of a local "jirga", or council of elders holding a meeting in the tribal areas of northwest Pakistan when a missile fired from the drone hit the group, the law firm said. Leigh Day & Co will argue that those involved in armed attacks can only claim immunity from criminal law if they are "lawful combatants" taking part in an "international armed conflict".

Khan's lawyers will say that staff working at UK Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) in southwest England, Britain's main intelligence monitoring centre, may have broken the law. As civilians, they are not classed as combatants and could be prosecuted, the law firm said.

A Foreign Office spokesman said it did not comment on ongoing legal proceedings. Asked whether Britain helps the United States in drone attacks, the spokesman added: "We don't comment on intelligence matters".

A key ally of Washington in neighbouring Afghanistan since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion, Britain has around 9,500 soldiers in the country. The deaths of six British soldiers in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday brought the British death toll to more than 400.