Peace icon Archbishop Desmond Tutu calls for Blair, Bush to face trial for Iraq war

Archbishop Desmond Tutu yesterday called for former UK prime minister Tony Blair and former US president George W Bush to face trial in The Hague for their role in the Iraq war.

Writing in The Observer newspaper, the South African peace icon, accused the pair of lying about weapons of mass destruction and said the invasion left the world more destabilised and divided "than any other conflict in history".

Tutu argued that different standards appeared to apply for prosecution of African leaders as against their western counterparts, adding that the death toll during and after the Iraq conflict was sufficient for Blair and Bush to face trial.

"On these grounds alone, in a consistent world, those responsible for this suffering and loss of life should be treading the same path as some of their African and Asian peers who have been made to answer for their actions in The Hague," Tutu wrote in the weekly newspaper.

"But even greater costs have been exacted beyond the killing fields, in the hardened hearts and minds of members of the human family across the world."

In a response statement, Blair said "this is the same argument we have had many times with nothing new to say".