Hoon is 'cruel' for claims on cluster bombs claims

Geoff Hoon, the Defence Secretary, suggested yesterday that mothers of Iraqi children killed by cluster bombs would "one day" thank Britain for their use.

Mr Hoon's claim came as the Ministry of Defence confirmed for the first time that it had dropped 50 airborne cluster munitions in the south of Iraq, leaving behind up to 800 unexploded bomblets.

Labour MPs, landmine charities and aid agencies all condemned the Defence Secretary for his comments in an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

When put to him that the Iraqi mother of a child killed by cluster bombs would not thank British forces for their actions, Mr Hoon replied: "One day they might.

"I accept that in the short term the consequences are terrible. No one minimises those and I'm not seeking to do so," he said. "But what I am saying is that this is a country that has been brutalised for decades by this appalling regime and that the restoration of that country to its own people, the possibility of their deciding for themselves their future ... and indeed the way in which they go about their lives, ultimately, yes, that will be a better place for people in Iraq."

Mr Hoon said that cluster bombs were "perfectly legal" weapons with an "entirely legitimate military role" and his advice had been that they protected British troops from unnecessary risk.

But Alice Mahon, MP for Halifax, said Mr Hoon's remarks about the mothers of Iraqi children killed by the bombs were "cruel and unfeeling.

"It was an outrageous thing to say. Does he seriously think he will win hearts and minds with talk like that? It was a typical quote from a conqueror, not a liberator," she said.