2nd Round: Brit Iraq War Inquiry Begins

The second round of hearings will run from 29 June to 30 July 2010

Details announced of Iraq Inquiry meetings in the United States

The Iraq Inquiry has released the names of US officials and military officers it met during talks last week.

Members of the Iraq Inquiry Committee held a series of meetings in Washington DC and Boston from Monday 17 May to Friday 21 May with people from the current and former US administrations. The private discussions took place to allow the Committee to receive a wider international perspective on the UK’s involvement in Iraq over the period being examined by the Inquiry. The Committee also met the current French and Australian Ambassadors in Washington.

The people listed below have all agreed to have their names released publicly. As the meetings were not formal evidence sessions, records of the conversations are not being published. Ambassador Paul Bremer submitted a statement which has been published on the Inquiry’s website.

The Iraq Inquiry Committee met the following people during its visit to the USA: Continued

The Iraq Inquiry invites submissions from international lawyers

The Iraq Inquiry has asked international lawyers for their analysis of the arguments relied upon by the UK government as the legal basis for the military intervention in Iraq.

The invitation has been circulated through the website of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law and through the mailing list of the Oxford University Public Law Discussion Group. Submissions should be received by 14 July. Continued

Witnesses named for next round of public hearings

Updated: 28 June 2010

The names of witnesses who will appear before the Iraq Inquiry in public from the end of June have been released today. The hearings are expected to run from 29 June to 30 July 2010, at the QE II conference centre in London.

Since the last public hearing on 8th March, the Inquiry has been analysing the evidence it has received, including in areas which were not covered in the previous round of public hearings. It has also visited France and the US.

The Committee has now decided to call new witnesses to explore issues relevant to its remit. The initial list of witnesses is as follows: Continued

Additional witnesses named for the public hearings

28 June 2010

Eight additional witnesses have now been confirmed and will appear before the Iraq Inquiry in July, they are as follows: Continued

Sir John Chilcot, opening statement 29 June 2010

Good morning and welcome to the QEII Conference Centre for the first day of this phase of the Iraq Inquiry’s public hearings.

At the Inquiry’s launch on 30 July last year, we took on the task of establishing a reliable account of the UK’s involvement in Iraq between 2001 and 2009, and to identify lessons for British governments facing similar circumstances.

In the last 11 months, we have covered a great deal of ground. Continued

Want to catch up, I have put up a site that has been following the Inquiry, and more, from the start, you can find it here. Earlier testimony did hit on a number of statements as to this country and what was said and going on as the Brits worked with their counterparts here.