Britain declares inquiry into Iraq intel accuracy

By: Nabil Raza

LONDON: British Premier Tony Blair announced Tuesday that he had called an inquiry into the quality of intelligence about banned Iraqi weapons, and expected findings to be ready months before a similar investigation in the United States.

“I think there are issues” about intelligence that need to be looked at, Blair told a Parliamentary committee. But he insisted Saddam had “weapons of mass destruction capability” when Britain and the US went to war in March.

The inquiry is due to report before Parliament breaks for the summer in July.

The five-member committee will be chaired by Lord Butler, a retired senior civil servant, and include a Labor and a Conservative lawmaker. The third-largest party in Parliament, the Liberal Democrats, declined to participate in the inquiry.

The announcement comes less than a week after a senior judge cleared the British government of allegations it distorted what it knew about Iraq's weapons programs to build a case for war.

Also, the decision was made public a day after US President Bush announced he would name an independent, bipartisan inquiry into faulty intelligence in Iraq.

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