Blair arrives early for Iraq war grilling

Tony Blair arrived early for his highly-anticipated appearance at the Iraq Inquiry today as he prepared to be grilled on why he took Britain to war.

The former British prime minister – who left Downing Street two and a half years ago - avoided protesters, entering the inquiry venue by a cordoned off rear entrance.

His account of how he came to support US President George Bush’s invasion of Iraq in March 2003 – despite massive opposition – will be watched keenly around the world.

Mr Blair arrived at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, opposite the Houses of Parliament, at about 7.30am – two hours before the hearing was due to begin.

In six hours of evidence, he will be asked when he committed Britain to overthrowing Saddam Hussein, whether he leaned on Attorney General Lord Goldsmith to agree it was legal and whether he manipulated intelligence about Iraq’s supposed weapons of mass destruction.

By 8am scores of demonstrators had gathered outside the centre but they were outnumbered by police who ringed the building.

Protesters shouted slogans including “Jail Tony” and “Blair lied – thousands died”.

There was a stand-off between police and leaders of the Stop the War Coalition, who accused the Metropolitan Police of breaking agreements on where protesters would be allowed to stand.

The demonstrators were prevented from gathering on a grassed area outside the main entrance to the QEII Centre.

Police had erected two lines of barriers overnight, forcing them to stand on the pavement opposite Westminster Abbey.

Many of the demonstrators wore T-shirts bearing the slogan “Jail Tony”.

Lindsey German, convener of the Stop The War Coalition, said she was ``appalled'' Mr Blair had been driven into the centre by a back entrance.

Speaking outside the centre, she said: “He doesn’t have the decency or honesty to face up to the public, military families and Iraqis who will be here today in huge numbers to show their opposition to the war.

“He does not have the integrity to come and face the people.

“Sliding in by a back door entrance is typical of his lies, deceit and evasion.”

Andrew Murray, chairman of the anti-war group, said: “This cowardly and deceitful entrance is typical of how the former prime minister sold the war to the country – behind the backs of the public.”

Opinion remains sharply divided over whether ousting Saddam's brutal regime was justified given the enormous human and financial cost.

Mr Blair was accused of misleading Parliament to take the UK into war and some critics even called for him to be indicted for war crimes.

The inquiry has already heard evidence suggesting that Mr Blair agreed to join the US-led invasion nearly a year before it began.

Alastair Campbell, the former prime minister’s communications director, said Mr Blair sent Mr Bush secret messages in 2002 assuring him that Britain would “be there” if it came to military action.

And the former British ambassador to Washington, Sir Christopher Meyer, said it appeared that an agreement was “signed in blood” by Mr Blair and Mr Bush at the President’s ranch in Crawford, Texas, in April 2002.

Previous witnesses to the inquiry also raised serious questions about the legality of the war.

Lord Goldsmith revealed on Wednesday that he advised Mr Blair in January 2003 that it would not be lawful to attack Iraq without a further UN Security Council resolution.

It was not until February 27, less than a month before the invasion began, that the former Attorney General finally gave the legal “green light” for military action.

But the senior legal adviser at the Foreign Office, Sir Michael Wood, told the inquiry he warned then-foreign secretary Jack Straw that military action without another UN resolution would be a “crime of aggression”.

Mr Blair is also likely to be quizzed about comments he made in a BBC interview last month.

He told TV presenter Fern Britton he believed it would still have been right to invade Iraq even if it was known at the time that Saddam did not have the weapons of mass destruction which were the pretext for the war.

Unconfirmed reports suggest the former prime minister has been staying up into the early hours studying documents from the time of the war to prepare himself for his appearance.

More than 3,000 members of the public applied for one of 80 places to see Mr Blair give evidence live in the inquiry chamber – 40 in the morning and 40 in the afternoon.

Twenty seats in the room were set aside for the families of service personnel who died in the Iraq conflict.

Other places were allocated in an overspill room inside the conference centre for the public to watch the former premier give his testimony on a video screen.

The session will be streamed on the inquiry’s website, www.iraqinquiry.org.uk.