British Prime Minister Tony Blair has rejected a call for an independent inquiry into the civilian death toll in the US-led war in Iraq.
The call came in an open letter signed by over 40 diplomats, peers, scientists and churchmen.
The signatories included Air Marshal Sir Timothy Garden, who spent 32 years in the military; Sir Stephen Egerton, a former British ambassador to Iraq; human rights campaigner, Ms Bianca Jagger and the Bishop of Oxford Richard Harris.
Despite wildly conflicting assessments of those killed Mr Blair told House of Parliament today that there was no need for an inquiry. "Figures from the Iraqi Ministry of Health, which are a survey from the hospitals there, are in our view the most accurate survey there is," he said.
In a report released in October by the medical journal the Lancet, a group of American scientists put civilian deaths at 100,000. But the Iraq Body Count (IBC) - an Anglo-American research group tracking civilian deaths via numerous sources - has come up with a much lower figure of about 14,000-16,000.
Iraq's health ministry has said 3,853 civilians were killed between April and October this year but critics say the lack of figures for the previous period makes a full tally imperative.
The signatories to the letter urged Mr Blair to commission an urgent inquiry and keep counting so long as British soldiers were in Iraq.
"Your government is obliged under international humanitarian law to protect the civilian population during military operations in Iraq, and you have consistently promised to do so," they wrote in the letter.
"However, without counting the dead and injured, no one can know whether Britain and its coalition partners are meeting these obligations."
The totalling of the Iraqi civilian war dead could embarrass Mr Blair ahead of a general election expected next May. Polls have shown the British public against the led war. Britain and the United States have suffered around 1,070 military losses in the war since it began in March 2003.