A meeting is being organised to resolve the dilemmas over hearings into the deaths of Scots-based armed forces personnel who die abroad.

Holyrood Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill has written to his Westminster counterpart, Jack Straw, asking for their officials to "take forward our joint desire to find a solution to the problem of the investigation of deaths of Scottish-based service personnel abroad."

Scottish civil servants believe the issue is not as simple as Holyrood legislating to allow fatal accident inquiries to investigate armed forces deaths abroad, as has been suggested.

Mr Straw's deputy, Bridget Prentice, had written to the Holyrood minister, saying: "I appreciate there would need to be a change to the primary legislation in Scotland to achieve this and it would also have implications for non- service deaths overseas.

"It might also possibly have implications for coroner law in England and Wales, for example, to allow a coroner to request that an FAI be held by the procurator-fiscal in the district most closely connected with the service person in Scotland and to enable transfers between England and Wales and Scotland."

One idea mooted has been for parts of Ministry of Defence bases north of the border to be transferred to English jurisdiction so that coroners can preside there, but the Scottish Government would prefer the adoption of the FAI process under sheriffs provided technical difficulties can be overcome.

It is believed that in addition to primary legislation at Holyrood and Westminster to allow this solution it could require the re-opening of the Scotland Act under which defence issues are strictly reserved.

Even if all the legal technicalities can be overcome there is also the issue of expense. Holyrood ministers are reluctant to write a blank cheque for what can be hugely expensive inquiries, involving witnesses being brought from all over the world, and will be seeking assurances on this.