London - The Ministry of Defence in Britain was last night studying reports that a bomb from an allied air strike on a military target in Iraq hit the tomb of St Matthew.
Mr Tam Dalyell, a Labour MP, asked the government to investigate reports of damage to what is reputed to be the apostle's burial site at a monastery 20 miles north of the town of Mosul.
The ministry confirmed that Allied aircraft did bomb an air defence target at Ba'ashiqah on August 10th, but could not say if there was damage to the Christian site.
Meanwhile, allied aircraft bombed northern Iraq yesterday, injuring civilians and shattering a five-day lull in confrontations in Iraqi skies, an Iraqi official said. Britain said allied aircraft had been fired on by Iraqi air defences.