• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Blix to be questioned at Iraq war inquiry

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

London, June 12, IRNA -- Former UN weapons inspector Hans Blix, who claimed the US and UK dramatised the threat of Saddam Hussein’s of mass destruction to justify the 2003 war, is to give evidence to the Iraq inquiry in London next month.

It was also announced that the former head of Britain’s MI5 security services, Lady Manningham-Buller, who warned the invasion of Iraq would increase terrorism, is also being called to give evidence, when the inquiry resumes at the end of June.

The inquiry has listed 35 new witnesses to be questioned, including former deputy prime minister John Prescott, ex-defence secretary Bob Ainsworth and two previous heads of the army, General Sir Mike Jackson and General Sir Richard Dannatt.

Others include former UK ambassador to Iran, Sir Richard Dalton as well as former diplomat, Carne Ross, who resigned after serving as Britain’s Middle East specialist at the UN and has subsequently given testimony directly contradicting the British justification for the war.

Announcing the latest witnesses on Friday, inquiry chair Sir John Chilcot, said it is likely that a further round of public hearings will be “in the autumn to cover new subjects, provide new evidence, or revisit issues with previous witnesses.”

Members of the committee visited the US last month to speak to officials and military officers from the current and former administrations, while hearings were adjourned in London during the UK’s general elections.

The visit to the US comes after the Iraq inquiry travelled to Paris to hear evidence of French opposition to the war and included talks with former foreign affairs minister Dominique de Villepin as well as diplomats and military leaders.

Since finishing the first round of public hearings in March, the committee has been analysing the witness testimonies obtained during hearings that started last autumn, as well as continuing to examine many thousands of highly classified government documents.

Chilcot has hinted that a number of future sessions, which is expected to include former prime minister Tony Blair amongst others again being recalled, would be held in private “to get to the heart of some very sensitive issues.”

Since coming to office, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has said the terms of the inquiry into the invasion of Iraq should be changed to ensure the disclosure of as many official documents as possible, when it publishes its report at the end of the year.

2220**345**1412

End News / IRNA / News Code 1173127