Monday, June 27 2005 20:33 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Istanbul: The self-styled World Tribunal on Iraq (WTI), an anti-war grouping of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), intellectuals and writers, today (Jun 27, 2005) harshly, if symbolically, condemned the United States, Britain and their allies for the occupation of Iraq.

The tribunal recommended "an exhaustive investigation of those responsible for crimes of aggression and crimes against humanity in Iraq."

After three days of deliberations, it singled out President George W Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair along with Government officials from other coalition partners as being primarily culpable for the war.

The tribunal, the purpose of which was to document the case against the war, did not consider the argument in favour of the US-led intervention in Iraq, and had no judicial status.

The statement, read by author Arundhati Roy, chair of the tribunal's "Jury of Conscience," called for an "immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the coalition forces in Iraq."

Roy, who won the Booker Prize in 1997 for her novel, "The God of Small Things", told a news conference that, "Our aim is to have the US and British forces out of Iraq," but conceded that this "will not happen tomorrow."

Roy also called on the US to immediately close down its prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and demanded a review of all treaties signed with post-invasion Iraq, which she said, "Should be considered null and void."

The WTI criticized the United Nations for having, it said, failed properly to manage the Iraqi crisis.