Blair gets advance copy of Iraq intelligence report

1.00pm - By BEN RUSSELL

LONDON - British Prime Minister Tony Blair yesterday remained defiant that intelligence about Iraq's weapons had been correct, as he awaited publication of Lord Butler's report.

Asked whether he had been fed "duff" information about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, the Prime Minister insisted: "I don't accept that at all."

Speaking on the eve of the former Cabinet Secretary's verdict on the use of intelligence in the run up to war, Mr Blair repeated that the war was justified.

"I feel very much as I did 18 months ago," he said.

"I think it is very difficult to look at Iraq today, to look at Iraq under Saddam, and say we would be better off, the world would be safer, we would be more secure, if Saddam was still in charge of Iraq."

An advance copy of Lord Butler's report was formally delivered to Downing Street just after noon yesterday, but Mr Blair only read it after his afternoon press conference with the Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi.

The Prime Minister ordered the inquiry in February, following growing public concern about the failure to uncover weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Mr Blair had wanted to establish a cross party committee of inquiry under Lord Butler, the former Cabinet Secretary.

But both the Liberal Democrats and the Tories refused to participate in the inquiry, amid concerns that its remit would not cover the controversy over the use of intelligence information by ministers in the run up to war.

However, Michael Mates, the Conservative former Northern Ireland minister Michael Mates agreed to serve on the five strong panel in a personal capacity.

The other members are Labour MP Ann Taylor, chairman of the Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee, Sir John Chilcot a career diplomat and staff counsellor for the security and intelligence services and Field Marshall Lord Inge, the former Chief of the Defence Staff.

The inquiry appears to have taken a broad interpretation of its remit, asking searching questions about Downing Street briefings on the now notorious "45 minutes" claim and taking evidence from the former UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix.

The inquiry was be modelled on the Franks inquiry after the Falklands War and was established to investigate the intelligence "coverage" on weapons of mass destruction in rogue states. Its remit was to look at the accuracy of intelligence on Saddam Hussein's arsenal and examine discrepancies between the intelligence "gathered, evaluated and used by the Government before the conflict".

The committee met and took evidence in private, although it could call for written and oral evidence from across Government and beyond.

- INDEPENDENT

Herald Feature: Iraq