Sir john chilcotFormer British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, is likely to provide evidence for an inquiry into the Iraq War, which begins at the end of July 2009, its chairman, Sir John Chilcot announced today in Central London.
The group will focus purely on British documentary evidence and witness statements, however, and many question whether the lack of international respondents will preclude any wide reaching conclusions to be drawn from the eventual report.
The inquiry panel consists of Sir Roderick Lyne, Sir Martin Gilbert, Sir Lawrence Freedman and Baroness Prashar.
The chairman claimed this report would necessarily take “a number of months” to produce as they are covering “over eight years worth of material”.
That there may be an “interim report” was not ruled out by Sir Chilcot, something which is likely to worry the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, as this is likely to arrive during the lead up to a General Election.
In This Story: Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown is a British politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1997 to 2007.
Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in Western Asia. The capital and largest city is Baghdad. Iraq is home to diverse ethnic groups including Arabs, Kurds, Turkmen, Assyrians, Yazidis, Shabakis, Armenians, Mandaeans, Circassians, Sabians and Kawliya. Around 99% of the country’s 38 million citizens are Muslims, with small minorities of Christians, Yarsans, Yezidis and Mandeans also present. The official languages of Iraq are Arabic and Kurdish.
Iraq has a coastline measuring 58 km (36 miles) on the northern Persian Gulf and encompasses the Mesopotamian Alluvial Plain, the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range and the eastern part of the Syrian Desert. Two major rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, run south through Iraq and into the Shatt al-Arab near the Persian Gulf. These rivers provide Iraq with significant amounts of fertile land. The region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, historically known as Mesopotamia, is often referred to as the cradle of civilisation.
Iraq is a federal parliamentary republic consisting of 19 governorates, four of which make up the autonomous Kurdistan Region. Disputes over the sovereignty of Kurdistan Region continue.
Iraq is a founding member of the UN as well as of the Arab League, OIC, Non-Aligned Movement and the IMF.
Tony Blair is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. After his resignation, he was appointed Special Envoy of the Quartet on the Middle East, an office which he held until 2015.
