Inquiry into soldiers' deaths

The soldiers were members of a bomb disposal team

The Ministry of Defence is trying to establish whether two British soldiers were executed in Iraq.

The bodies of the two men have been found in a shallow grave near the southern city of Basra.

Sapper Luke Allsopp, 24, and Staff Sergeant Simon Cullingworth, 36, disappeared in the first days of the war.

Their deaths prompted controversy when UK Prime Minister Tony Blair claimed they had been executed.

Arab satellite television station al-Jazeera had broadcast pictures of the men's bodies lying near their overturned Land Rover, drawing widespread condemnation from military and political leaders.

Following the discovery of the bodies, a Ministry of Defence (MoD) spokeswoman expressed its "deep regret".

It said: "[The] cause of death is not yet known but an investigation is ongoing and execution is a possibility."

The boys can be brought home and buried and their families can at least return to the places and pay their respects to them

Rev Andrew Gair

Post-mortem examinations will be carried out to try to confirm exactly how the men died.

British forces found the bodies after being tipped off by local residents.

BBC correspondent Orla Guerin, who visited the site, said local people had given her an "unconvincing account" of what had happened.

They told her they had seen Baath party officials burying the corpses.

The soldiers, who both came from Essex and were members of a bomb disposal unit of the 33 (EOD) Engineer Regiment, went missing on 23 March after an attack near Al Zubayr.

Reverend Andrew Gair, the padre of the regiment, said the discovery of the bodies allowed the families to deal with their loss.

He said: "The news that the bodies have been found - although obviously sad because it confirms what most of us had suspected for a long time - is nevertheless welcome because the boys can be brought home and buried and their families can at least return to the places and pay their respects to them."

'Brutal'

Tony Blair was criticised by the family of Sapper Allsopp after he claimed the Iraqi regime had executed the men.

At a joint news conference in the US with George W Bush Mr Blair said: "If anyone needed any further evidence of the depravity of Saddam's regime, this atrocity provides it."

Sapper Allsopp's family accused the government of lying and said they had been told by senior officers that he died instantly in combat.

After the family's criticisms, the prime minister's official spokesman acknowledged there was not absolute proof the men were executed.

But he said "every piece of information points towards the men having been executed in a brutal fashion".

Armed forces minister Adam Ingram later spoke of Mr Blair's regret at the hurt caused by the comments.