Deal reached on release of 'gist' of Blair-Bush Iraq talks
Discussions are taking place over the publication of confidential correspondence between Mr Bush and Mr Blair
Details
of the "gist" of talks between Tony Blair and George Bush ahead of the
Iraq war are to be published, the UK's Chilcot inquiry says.
of the "gist" of talks between Tony Blair and George Bush ahead of the
Iraq war are to be published, the UK's Chilcot inquiry says.
But transcripts and full notes of conversations will remain secret at the request of the government.
The agreement between the inquiry and Cabinet Secretary Sir
Jeremy Heywood could clear the way for the report to be published later
this year.
It is thought to have been delayed by wrangling over what could be released.
The inquiry has been given access to full records of talks
between the two leaders in the run-up to war but is being prevented by
the government from publishing them in its final report, even after
offering to block-out sensitive parts.
The UK government's grounds for refusing the request to
publish the full documents and transcripts is that it could prejudice
future relations between the two countries.
The inquiry has instead been granted permission to "disclose
quotes or gists of the content" to help explain its conclusions, inquiry
chairman Sir John Chilcot explained in a letter to Sir Jeremy.
The documents include 25 notes from Mr Blair to Mr Bush and
more than 130 records of conversations between the former prime minister
and then US president in the run-up to war.
In his letter, Sir John said "detailed consideration" of what to release was taking place.
"Considerations will be based on the principle that use of
this material should not reflect President Bush's views. We have also
agreed that the use of direct quotation from the documents should be the
minimum necessary to enable the inquiry to articulate its conclusions,"
he writes.
Sir John says the inquiry has reached agreement on the
"principles that will underpin disclosure" of communications between
former US President George Bush and former Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The inquiry, which is examining the UK's participation in
military action against Saddam Hussein and its aftermath, began in 2009
and its last public hearings took place in 2011. It has cost more than
£7m so far.
Although the inquiry team, led by Sir John Chilcot, has never
set a target date or deadline for publication, it is generally accepted
that the timetable for publication has slipped on several occasions.
Before publication can happen, letters must be sent out to
individuals facing criticism in the report, under what is known as the
"Maxwellisation" process, to give them an opportunity to respond.
The 2003 invasion of Iraq by British and US forces, on the
pretext that it had "weapons of mass destruction," has already been the
subject of several inquiries in the UK, including the Butler report into
intelligence failings.
'Critical'
Tony Blair has said he wants the Chilcot report to be
published as soon as possible and said this week he "resented" claims he
was to blame for its slow progress.
There are concerns the report will not be released before the 2015 election.
But the ex-Labour prime minister said he was not blocking any
documents and publication would allow him "restate" the case for the
2003 invasion.
"It is certainly not me who is holding it up," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
"The sooner it is published the better, from my perspective, as it allows me to make the arguments."
Brown's document pledge
When then prime minister Gordon Brown announced the setting
up of an inquiry to "learn the lessons" of the Iraq conflict in June
2009, he wanted witnesses to be questioned behind closed doors to
protect national security and so they could speak more freely. He
swiftly backtracked after pressure from the opposition and former
government officials who wanted public hearings. But he was clear about
the need for openness when it came to secret papers, saying: "No British
document and no British witness will be beyond the scope of the
inquiry. I have asked the members of the committee to ensure that the
final report will be able to disclose all but the most sensitive
information - that is, all information except that which is essential to
our national security."
David Cameron has said he hopes the report will be released before the end of the year.
Mr Blair, who appeared in person twice before the inquiry to
justify his decision to take the UK to war, said he had an interest in
the report being published as quickly as possible.
The inquiry got agreement earlier this year on the release of
more than 200 Cabinet and Cabinet committee meetings, which would not
normally be published until 30 years after the events, if at all.
A small number of full extracts from the minutes of Cabinet
meetings judged by the inquiry to be "most critical" will be published
alongside its final report.
'Sensitive issues'
A Cabinet Office spokesman said: "The government is pleased
that agreement on a way forward on both Cabinet papers and UK/US
exchanges has now been reached with the Inquiry.
"This allows for the declassification and publication of the material the Inquiry believes it needs to explain its conclusions.
"Resolving this issue has taken longer than originally hoped but these are sensitive issues.
"The UK/US Head of Government channel is very important and must be handled sensitively.
"The government and the Inquiry are working to ensure the
Inquiry's report is published as soon as possible and the government is
doing everything it can to facilitate that."
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