London, May 12(IRNA) The British government is to be questioned in parliament next week over what discussions Prime Minister Tony Blair had with US President George W Bush about plans in 2004 to bomb the Arabic television satellite station al-Jazeera in Qatar.
According to the Guardian newspaper Saturday, former defence minister Peter Kilfoyle is to table questions after repeated allegations that Bush made the threat at a meeting with Blair in the White House in April 2004.
Kilfoyle said he would also ask Blair about what Bush wanted UK troops to do in Iraq outside the area of initial deployment in the south-east of Iraq when the US was planning to attack Falluja at that time.
The questions come after two British aides were jailed this week for breaching the country's Official Secrets Act by leaking a memo allegedly about the April 2004 talks, which some reports suggested primary discussions about possibly bombing al-Jazeera.
The Guardian said it is known that al-Jazeera was criticised by the Bush administration and US generals because of its coverage of American military tactics. It was understood the US military also threatened to close down al-Jazeera in Baghdad, it said.
It has also been widely reported at the time that an American request was made for British troops to help support the Falluja operation. Soldiers from Britain's Black Watch regiment were subsequently deployed to help the US south of Baghdad.
According to the Guardian, British commanders were privately critical of US military tactics in Iraq but officials said at the time that Blair was not prepared to criticise US forces.
Kilfoyle, who served in Blair's first government, was quoted as having said there remained unanswered questions about the Washington talks on the attack on Falluja and what he called "the subsequent deaths of several hundred civilians."
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