Labour MP attacks bombing raids

Iraq claims children were hurt in the bombing raids

A Scottish Labour MP is visiting Iraq to inspect the damage inflicted on Baghdad by US and British bombing raids.

George Galloway, MP for Glasgow Hillhead, criticised Tony Blair and George Bush for authorising the bombing on Friday evening.

Mr Galloway is a longstanding critic of the government's policy towards Iraq and has campaigned for the lifting of sanctions.

Earlier this week, he was arrested after taking part in a demonstration at the Faslane nuclear base on the Clyde.

George Galloway: "cruel and criminal attack"

Before leaving for Baghdad, Mr Galloway branded the military action by Britain and the US as "cruel and criminal".

"The British and American policy of attacking Iraqi targets in the so-called `no fly zones' - and now in the capital - has never been approved by the United Nations and is widely deplored in the rest of the world," he said.

"No other civilised country in the world condones them. The Arab world will be horrified and sickened."

Mr Galloway added: "At a time when around 7,000 Iraqi children a month are dying because of sanctions, this is a cruel and criminal attack on the ordinary people of the country.

Nuclear protest

"It's George Bush showing his muscles and Tony Blair ogling them admiringly."

This attack is the second time in a week that Mr Galloway has clashed with official government policy.

On Monday he was arrested while taking part in a demonstration against Britain's Trident nuclear deterrent at the Faslane submarine base on the Clyde.

He was later released by Strathclyde police and reported to the Procurator Fiscal.