Senior officer denies lies on 'friendly fire' deaths.

A senior Army officer yesterday denied lying in court about events which led to his troops killing two British colleagues in Iraq. Lieutenant Colonel Lindsay MacDuff was recalled to an inquest after evidence he gave on Monday conflicted with that of other witnesses.

Lt Col MacDuff, commander of The Black Watch (BW), 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, said he told his men on the radio about the presence of two friendly tanks from a neighbouring battle group near Basra.

The radio log of the incident, four days after the coalition invasion in March 2003, has since gone missing.

But his men and fellow officers have told the Oxford hearing, in its fifth day, they never received this information.

Lt Col MacDuff, then a major commanding B Company, 1 Black Watch, stuck by his claim that he told his men about the tanks.

The coroner, Andrew Walker, asked him: "In the light of no one hearing your message, could you have been mistaken about a communication ... about the position of these tanks?" Lt Col MacDuff said: "No. I sent the message and it was acknowledged. The radio message was answered by one of the call signs."

Richard Hermer, for the families of the two dead men, said: "You are lying, Mr MacDuff. This is not a recollection, it is a fabrication."

"I disagree," was the reply.

He added he was telling the truth and not trying to protect himself or anyone else by lying.

Hours after the officer claims his message went out, a BW tank near the Shatt al Basra Canal fired on two Royal Regiment of Fusiliers (RRF) tanks, destroying one and killing two men.

Queen's Royal Lancers (QRL) Corporal Stephen Allbutt, 35, then attached to the RRF, a father of two from Stoke-on-Trent, was killed instantly.

Also killed was QRL Trooper David Clarke, 19, from Littleworth in Staffordshire, but because his remains were not found he cannot have an inquest of his own.