Musicians are hoping to emulate the success of Live Aid with a charity single and concert in aid of victims of the Iraq War.

In the Eighties, Bob Geldof led some of the biggest singing names of the time in a campaign that raised millions of pounds to help starving people in Ethiopia.

Organisers of Songs Against Suffering are hoping to do the same for those living in war-torn Iraq with the help of Sussex performers.

As well as releasing a single titled What I Believe, they are holding a benefit concert at Concorde 2 in Brighton on Easter Monday.

All proceeds will go to the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC), which is trying to get much-needed humanitarian aid out to Iraq.

Philip Jackson, of Bright'n Live Productions, decided to launch the campaign last month.

He said: "I want this to be a bit like Live Aid. The only handicap I have got is that I don't have the connections of Bob Geldof. In the first two weeks, it was difficult to get people involved and get the whole thing moving."

Things started to pick up when Sophie Barker, lead singer of dance band Zero 7, expressed an interest. Mr Jackson now has eight female singer/songwriters on board.

They will all perform an acoustic set at the Concorde 2 concert, which will also feature Perrier Award-winning cabaret artist Barb Jungr and a DJ set by DJ Lotte.

Mr Jackson said: "We are not trying to take a very anti-war stance but we just want let people know what is happening."

The singers will finish by taking to the stage and performing What I Believe. The song was written by Eva Turkon and a pre-release copy was produced, free of charge, by record company Dunnet Wright Music.

Copies of this version will be available at the concert but Mr Jackson wants to rerecord the single at Metropolis studios in London with those musicians who could not make the gig.

He said: "I'm really hoping to get artists of the calibre of Annie Lennox involved.

"The song is very radio friendly but I think it still expresses what we want to say. Obviously, what we really want is for a national radio station to start playing it and I think that can happen."

Mr Jackson plans to launch the final version of What I Believe at the Glastonbury festival at the end of June.

Tickets for the Songs Against Suffering concert cost £10. They are available from the Dome box office, Rounder Records and Concorde 2.