Iraq said this weekend it would institute war crimes proceedings against Britain - and legal experts say London could be in trouble, writes Chris Stephen from The Hague
Bagdad's Information Minister Mr Said al Sahaf singled out British troops for the siege of Basra, accusing them of inflicting suffering on civilians.
"The British put fire when we are having food distributed in Basra," he said. "The British, not the Americans."
The distinction is significant: Britain is a member of the newly-formed International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague; America is not. London is vulnerable because of laws requiring forces to protect civilians from unnecessary suffering.
Officials in the ICC's gleaming new white headquarters in The Hague say it is not enough to avoid targeting civilians - the British must also make sure they do not suffer, even indirectly, from the fighting now enveloping Iraq's southern city.
"The idea you can lay siege to a city and starve them out - that's unacceptable," said one war crimes barrister. "The law is dead clear. You are responsible if the suffering is a reasonably foreseeable consequence of your actions."
The Iraqi minister said Iraq was taking advice from unspecified lawyers outside the Middle East over how to frame charges.
"This suggestion came to us from different legal groups, first in Europe. There are professors of law from Arab countries, from Europe and Latin America. We have already started. In the war crimes tribunal or in other shapes."
And while Basra is the focus of war crimes' speculation, it is not the only problem for London as investigators will hold it responsible for the increasing casualties of civilians suffered in crossfire and from stray bombs and missiles.
Likewise, the ICC will not accept Britain handing prisoners of war, who are entitled to Red Cross protection, into US custody at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba
ICC officials refuse to say whether Iraq has lodged a complaint, only that more than 200 reports of war crimes from around the world are awaiting the arrival next month of a chief prosecutor.