British team begins probe on Iraq war

A WIDE-RANGING inquiry into British involvement in the Iraq war began yesterday, aiming to throw light on former prime minister Tony Blair’s case for invasion but risking embarrassment for the current government.

A five-member inquiry team, headed by former civil servant John Chilcot is probing the reasons for British participation in the 2003 US-led invasion and the subsequent occupation of Iraq, promising a “thorough” and “rigorous” probe of events.

Critics, including relatives of some of the 179 British service personnel killed during the six years of British operations which officially ended at the end of April this year, have long called for an inquiry into the war.