LONDON, April 10: Former British foreign secretary Douglas Hurd on Saturday blasted Washington's policy in Iraq saying the United States was mistaken in believing it could impose democracy in the war-shattered country through the use of force.

"You really don't win hearts and minds by filling hospitals and mortuaries," said Hurd, who was foreign secretary between 1979 and 1983 in the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher.

Hurd was referring to the recent fighting in Iraq between US forces and guerillas that has left hundreds of Iraqis dead and hundreds more wounded.

"The idea that you could actually not just get rid of a tyrant but then impose democracy by the means we have been using is, I think, contradicted by most people who have any knowledge of the area," Hurd told BBC radio.

He said the recent upsurge in violence was "almost inevitable" and added that the US-led coalition should hand over power to Iraqis who have real influence in the country and not just those who have "curried favour" with the Pentagon.

Hurd also regretted London's willingness to blindly follow the US administration over Iraq and urged Prime Minister Tony Blair to send an envoy to Baghdad to explain London's position.

He said someone like former NATO secretary Lord Robertson could carry out such a mission.

Hurd's open criticism of Blair's government was unusual in that the Conservative party has so far refrained from criticizing the Labour Party's policy on Iraq and has in general backed the US-led invasion. -AFP