ISTANBUL, Turkey: In its final declaration, the World Tribunal on Iraq (WTI), harshly, if symbolically, condemned the United States, Britain and their allies for the occupation of Iraq criticizing the UN Security Council for having failed to protect Iraq against a crime of aggression.

The WTI is a worldwide initiative that works together in a non-hierarchical system as a horizontal network of local groups worldwide. The project consists of commissions of inquiry and sessions held around the world investigating various issues related to the war on Iraq, such as the legality of the war, the role of the United Nations, war crimes and the role of the media as well as the destruction of the cultural sites and environment.

The tribunal which includes about 200 non-governmental organizations (NGOs), a number of prominent intellectuals and writers, was founded in 2003 and modeled on the 1960s' Russell Tribunal -- created by British philosopher Bertrand Russell to denounce the war in Vietnam.

It has held 20 sessions so far in different locations around the world.

Among the NGOs include in WTI are the environmentalist Greenpeace, the anti-globalization ATTAC and Vietnam Veterans Against the War as well as a number of prominent intellectuals such as the linguist Noam Chomsky and international law professor Richard Falk of the US.

The tribunal, meeting in an old Ottoman minting house in Istanbul on Monday, recommended after three days of deliberations "an exhaustive investigation of those responsible for crimes of aggression and crimes against humanity in Iraq, beginning with ... Bush ... Tony Blair ... and other government officials from the coalition of the willing."

The statement called for an "immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the coalition forces in Iraq."

It also pointed a finger at a number of US firms active in Iraq, such as Halliburton, Carlyle, Boeing and Texaco.

It recommended "that people throughout the world launch actions against US and UK corporations that directly profit from this war."

During the proceedings, about 50 experts and witnesses, from jurists to former soldiers and victims of the conflict, testified before the jury and the participants to demonstrate what they described as the illegality of the war.

Organizers said the recommendations of the WTI will be handed over to those the jury found at fault, as well as to a number of international organizations.