The UK prime minister Gordon Brown has agreed to appear at Britain's Iraq war inquiry before a general election due by June, rather than after as previously expected, the probe's chairman said today.
John Chilcot had originally scheduled Mr Brown's appearance after the election to avoid it being used for party political purposes but said he had offered Mr Brown the chance to appear ahead of national polls "as a matter of fairness."
"The prime minister replied to me this morning to say that he will be happy to agree dates from a range we have proposed over the next two months," he said.
Extracts of Mr Brown's letter to Mr Chilcot were released by Downing Street. "I offered to give my evidence at any time," the premier wrote.
"You have proposed a range of dates in the next two months. I will be happy to agree a date that is to the convenience of the inquiry."
Explaining his initial decision not to call Brown until after the election, which is expected to be held on May 6, Mr Chilcot said he did not want the inquiry to be used as "a platform for political advantage by any political party".
"From the outset, we have made it clear that we wish to stay outside party politics," he added.
Mr Chilcot said that David Miliband and Douglas Alexander, Britain's current foreign secretary and international development secretary respectively, would also be called to give evidence before the election.
The two were both government ministers at the time of the invasion, but with lower-level responsibilities relating to domestic, not foreign, policy.
Mr Brown's predecessor Tony Blair, who controversially backed US president George W Bush in invading Iraq in 2003, is due to appear before the British inquiry next Friday.
* AFP
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A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Results
Stage seven
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates, in 3:20:24
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers, at 1s
3. Pello Bilbao (ESP) Bahrain-Victorious, at 5s
General Classification
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates, in 25:38:16
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers, at 22s
3. Pello Bilbao (ESP) Bahrain-Victorious, at 48s
Banthology: Stories from Unwanted Nations
Edited by Sarah Cleave, Comma Press
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
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Hili 2: Unesco World Heritage site
The site is part of the Hili archaeological park in Al Ain. Excavations there have proved the existence of the earliest known agricultural communities in modern-day UAE. Some date to the Bronze Age but Hili 2 is an Iron Age site. The Iron Age witnessed the development of the falaj, a network of channels that funnelled water from natural springs in the area. Wells allowed settlements to be established, but falaj meant they could grow and thrive. Unesco, the UN's cultural body, awarded Al Ain's sites - including Hili 2 - world heritage status in 2011. Now the most recent dig at the site has revealed even more about the skilled people that lived and worked there.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.