It would be “premature” to conclude even now that weapons of mass destruction will never be found in Iraq, the Butler report released in the UK said today.

Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy today said he was not surprised by Lord Butler’s findings and called for a full public inquiry into the run-up to the Iraq war.

British intelligence reports on Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction in the run up to the Iraq war were “open to doubt” and “seriously flawed”, the Butler Inquiry said today.

The long-awaited Butler Report into intelligence failings in the run-up to war in Iraq was being published in the UK today, amid fevered speculation in Westminster over whether the finger of blame will be pointed at British Prime Minister Tony Blair.