Inquests opened into soldiers' deaths

The inquest into the death of two British soldiers feared to have been executed in Iraq was opened today.

The hearing began only hours after the bodies of Sapper Luke Allsopp, 24, and Staff Sergeant Simon Cullingworth, 36, were flown into RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.

Coroner Nicholas Gardiner adjourned the hearing at Oxford Coroners Court without referring to the cause of death.

He said: "The two bodies have been brought in from Iraq this morning and are already on the way to the mortuary in John Radcliffe Hospital where the post-mortem will begin.

"I understand these men were lost on active duty in Iraq near Al Zubayr where they seem to have been involved in an ambush."

Mr Gardiner adjourned the inquest for 10 weeks but warned it may be longer before they were reopened.

The remains of Sapper Allsopp, from north London, and Sgt Cullingworth from Essex were found in a shallow grave near Al Zubayr outside Basra in southern Iraq.

It is feared their Land Rover was ambushed and the men shot after they went missing on March 23.

After the soldiers' bodies were shown on al Jazeera TV, the Prime Minister Tony Blair drew condemnation by saying the men had been executed.

The family of Sapper Allsopp reacted furiously saying the Army had told them the men had died in combat.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman later admitted there was no conclusive proof of how the men died.

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