A British tabloid newspaper has released what it says is a cockpit video recording from a U.S. warplane at the center of a "friendly fire" incident that killed a British soldier in Iraq nearly four years ago.
The Sun newspaper Tuesday released the video and published a transcript purported to be the words of American pilots deciding to attack a British tank that they mistook for an insurgent vehicle. The pilots apparently confused the marking panels on the tank for rocket launchers.
The British Ministry of Defense says it has a copy of the video which it used in its investigation of the incident, but which it withheld from the soldier's widow and family.
The U.S. military conducted its own investigation of the attack, but the findings were not made public.
A coroner investigating the death of Lance Corporal Matty Hull has demanded that Britain's Ministry of Defense release the recording. However, the ministry says it can not make the tape public without the U.S. military's permission.
The mistaken attack occurred within the first month of the U.S.- led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.