The Pentagon agreed yesterday to hand over a classified tape recording of two A10 tank-buster pilots who fired cannons at a British military armoured convoy in error during the Iraq war in March 2003, killing Lance Corporal of Horse Matty Hull, of The Blues and Royals.

The change of heart came after the leaking of the tape to The Sun and the publication of the full dialogue between the two American pilots as they began an attack on two Household Cavalry armoured Scimitar reconnaissance vehicles, and then panicked when they realised that they belonged to friendly forces.

The tape will now be released to Andrew Walker, the Oxfordshire assistant deputy coroner, who has been conducting Lance Corporal Hull’s inquest. He had given the Americans until Friday to provide the tape for the benefit of the inquest and the family of the dead soldier.

However, despite the leaked version of the tape having been screened widely, the Americans have set strict conditions for the release. David Johnson, the deputy chief of mission at the US Embassy in London, said that the transcript could be made public at the inquest but not the DVD of the incident. Any showing of the film would have to be restricted to the coroner and the family, he said.

Geoff Webb, the coroner’s officer, said that the Treasury Solicitors had told him in an e-mail that Mr Walker and the Hull family could see the video during and after the inquest but that the media would not be allowed to see it. The issue of the tape and the conditions set by the US will be discussed at a meeting on Friday week before the reopening of the inquest.

Mr Walker had postponed the hearings because of the refusal of the Pentagon to release the tape recording.

Susan Hull, the soldier’s widow, said that she welcomed the decision. Ministry of Defence officials denied Mrs Hull’s claim that she had been told no such tape existed. They said she had been informed that there was “secret material” relating to the incident which could not be released but no reference was made to a tape recording of the two A10 pilots.

A Pentagon source said that the Defence Department had carried out a full investigation into the incident in which Lance Corporal Hull was killed. The conclusion, the source said, was that it had been a tragic accident.

Lieutenant-Colonel Catherine Reardon, a US Air Force spokeswoman, said that British personnel took part in the 2003 inquiry. “There were UK air and army liaison officers there. All the information was shared,” she said. Neither of the pilots was court-martialled or disciplined and both have since returned to active duty.

Mr Walker had heard the recording of the two pilots privately after being given a copy by British officers involved in the army board of inquiry on March 28, 2003, near Basra in southern Iraq. But, according to the coroner’s office, he had been barred from keeping it or using it as inquest evidence.

However, in a new twist, the MoD said that an investigation was under way to find who had lent the tape to the coroner — a move that had not been formally authorised.

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