Iran failed to protect its people-UK's Miliband

TRIESTE, Italy, June 26 (Reuters) - Iran's government failed to protect its people during protests over a disputed election and killings and beatings that have taken place are deplorable, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said on Friday.

"I think there is unity here that it is for the Iranian people to choose their government but it is for the Iranian government to protect their people," he told a news conference after a meeting of Group of Eight foreign minisers.

"The violence we have seen over the last 10 days and the killings and the beatings are deplorable and they show a failure to protect their own people," he said.

"There is a crisis of credibility not between Iran and the West, but between the Iranian counting of the votes and the Iranian people," he said. (Reporting by Adrian Croft; Editing by Phil Stewart)