Britain says sabotage did not cause plane crash in Iraq

LONDON - The British military on Monday ruled out sabotage as the cause of a January 30 crash of a British transport plane in Iraq, but left open the possibility it could have been shot down by insurgents.
The Sun newspaper reported in February that a bomb planted aboard the C-130 Hercules plane was the most likely cause of the crash that killed nine Royal Air Force (RAF) crew and one soldier.
However, the RAF's interim findings of the investigation ruled out that the plane was brought down by a bomb or some kind of tampering, according to a statement from the defense ministry.
The Hercules crashed just northwest of Baghdad on January 30, resulting in Britain's largest single-day loss of life since it helped launch the Iraq war in March 2003.
The ministry did not say when the final results of the investigation would be ready.

03/07/2005 14:24 GMT