Straw denies the killing of 100,000 Iraqi civilians since the beginning of Iraq's invasion

The British foreign office secretary Jack Straw yesterday denied estimated announced by British experts in the field of health which said that some 100,000 civilians were killed in Iraq since the beginning of the invasion of Iraq.

In a statement issued by the foreign office, Straw rejected these numbers, noting that the only source for the figures that can be considered reliable are the one given by the Iraqi hospitals. He added that in every and each conflict it is difficult to formulate a certain idea about civilian losses.

Straw indicated that this is true, in particular, according to conditions standing in Iraq. According to the Iraqi ministry of health, 4,853 civilians were killed in Iraq between April fifth and October 5th, 2004 and15,517 civilians were wounded.