Blair attacks critics' conspiracy theories

LONDON - Tony Blair has taken a swipe at the Iraq inquiry, claiming it was part of a British obsession with conspiracy, deceit and scandal.

He called for an end to speculation over his motives for taking the country to war in his first interview since his appearance before the inquiry last month.

Yesterday Sir John Chilcot, the inquiry's chairman, ended the first phase of its investigation with a warning that some witnesses could be recalled where there were gaps in their evidence or official documents.

Blair betrayed his frustration during a television interview in the United States.

Mike Huckabee, a Republican who made a failed attempt to contest the presidency for his party in 2008, asked why there had been four relentless inquiries into the Iraq war.

The former Prime Minister smiled ruefully and replied: "I think it's partly because we have this curious habit - I don't think it's confined to Britain, actually - where people find it hard to come to the point where they say: 'We disagree - you're a reasonable person, I'm a reasonable person - but we disagree.'

"There's always got to be a scandal as to why you hold your view. There's got to be some conspiracy behind it - some great deceit that's gone on, and people just find it hard to understand that it's possible for people to have different points of view and hold them reasonably for genuine reasons.

"So I think there's continual desire to sort of uncover some great conspiracy when actually there's a decision at the heart of it - but there it is."

During his cross-examination at the Chilcot inquiry, Blair defended his decision to back the invasion and denied that the intelligence used to support the war was manipulated.

He also faced tough criticism for refusing to express regret for the conflict, in which 179 British soldiers died.

It is widely expected that Blair will be among the witnesses who are summoned back before the inquiry.

Yesterday, Chilcot said his team was receiving new paperwork relating to the war all the time.

He said all the evidence received would be examined "to see where the evidence joins together and where there are gaps. Only then can we decide the further evidence we need."

- INDEPENDENT