UK: Families of Killed Soldiers to Boycott Iraq War Inquiry Report

Local Editor

The families of some British soldiers killed in the Iraq war announced they will boycott the Chilcot inquiry over fears it will be a "whitewash."

The two million-word inquiry report about the involvement of the British government in the 2003 invasion of Iraq will be published on Wednesday after about seven years.

The Iraq Inquiry, also referred to as the Chilcot Inquiry after its chairman, Sir John Chilcot, was established in 2009 to investigate Britain's role in the Iraq war and its aftermath that saw British forces remain in the Arab country for six years.

The report analyzes evidence about how the government of Labor Prime Minister Tony Blair acted before the invasion of Iraq and during the war.

Relatives of the 170 British soldiers who were killed between 2003 and 2009 will get an early sight of a summary of the report.

Blair told British MPs before invading Iraq that intelligence showed former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had "active", "growing" and "up and running" nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. Weapons of mass destruction [WMD] were the basis of launching the war.

In 2004, however, a US report said that Saddam Hussein destroyed his last WMD over a decade ago and had no capacity to build new ones.

Earlier reports said that the Chilcot inquiry report will affect Blair's reputation, his foreign secretary Jack Straw and former MI6 chief Richard Dearlove.

Launched by the administration of former US president George W. Bush with strong UK backing, the war led to the deaths of more than one million Iraqis.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team