London, January 05: Britain’s public inquiry into the Iraq war resumed Tuesday after the Christmas break, as questions grew about the looming appearance by Tony Blair, who led the country into the controversial conflict.
Blair is expected to give evidence to the inquiry in the second half of January or early February, while his former communications chief and close ally Alastair Campbell will appear on January 12.
Labour figures are reportedly worried Blair’s appearance could cause problems for the ruling party as struggling Prime Minister Gordon Brown starts campaigning in earnest for Britain’s general election, to be held by June.
And an Internet campaign has been launched to ensure Blair faces tough questions about why he took Britain into the unpopular war, amid criticisms the probe, led by a retired top civil servant, has gone too easy on some witnesses.
Blair stood shoulder-to-shoulder with then US president George W. Bush over the 2003 invasion, but faced a major backlash in Britain. He resigned in 2007 despite having led his party to three election wins.
Britain justified the invasion at the time by arguing that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (WMD) but these were never found.
Blair insisted last month he would have supported the war, which did not gain explicit United Nations approval, even if he had known there were no Iraqi WMDs.
“I would still have thought it right to remove him (Saddam Hussein). Obviously you would have had to use and deploy different arguments, about the nature of the threat,” he told the BBC.
Saddam was a “threat to the region” who “used chemical weapons on his own people”, Blair added.
Inquiry representatives have fought back against claims Blair might not face rigorous questioning.
Its spokesman insists Blair will be “appearing very much in public”, despite fears some of his evidence will be heard privately for national security reasons.
The first witness to give evidence to the resumed probe Tuesday was William Patey, Britain’s ambassador to Baghdad between 2005 and 2006.
He told of his fears at the time that Iraq could break up in the aftermath of the conflict. “There was forces pulling Iraq apart,” said Patey, now ambassador to Saudi Arabia. “There was a constant danger.”
—Agencies