A RELATIVE of a young soldier killed in an explosion in Iraq will make a renewed plea for UK troops to be brought home.

Gordon Gentle, 19, of Glasgow, died when a bomb hit his vehicle in Basra on June 28.

Fusilier Gentle's death angered his family, who said "children" were being sent to their deaths in Iraq.

On Wednesday, his great aunt, Maria Burns, will address a public meeting in Middlesbrough called by the anti-war Respect party.

Mrs Burns, who lives in Darlington, said: "We are campaigning to get these young boys back from Iraq and for Tony Blair to meet the parents of those who have been killed.

"They are frightened when they are out there. They have six months' training and that is it. Tony Blair has a lot to answer for."

The meeting will be in the International Centre, in Abingdon Road, at 7.30pm.

Last month, Fusilier Gentle's mother, Rose, walked out of a meeting with Dep- uty Prime Minister John Prescott. She was angered that a letter of condolence over her son's death from the Prime Minister arrived seven weeks after he was killed.