Tweet
18 January 2011
Last updated at 00:47 ET
The Iraq inquiry is to resume its open hearings later after a break of almost six months.
The panel will spend three hours questioning Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy, former chief of the air staff.
His appearance comes ahead of a second inquiry session for former Prime Minister Tony Blair on Friday.
Written evidence from the then attorney general, released on Monday, showed he had been uncomfortable about statements by Mr Blair before the 2003 invasion.
The inquiry panel, led by Sir John Chilcot, is holding an inquiry into the UK's role in the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq and its aftermath.
The committee has been holding hearings since November 2009, in which it has questioned a host of former Labour cabinet ministers, senior military commanders, civil servants and diplomats.
A third and final round of public hearings is due to begin on Tuesday afternoon, and the inquiry is expected to report its findings by the summer.
Sir Glenn will be questioned about his role as the UK's air component commander for the March 2003 invasion of Iraq.
He was also the military's chief of joint operations from 2004 to 2006 before leading the RAF from 2006 until 2009.
The inquiry will also hear for the first time from current Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell and former Cabinet Secretary Lord Wilson of Dinton.
In addition to Mr Blair, the inquiry has also recalled former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, Admiral Lord Boyce, chief of the defence staff from 2001 to 2003, and Lord Turnbull, cabinet secretary from 2002 to 2005.
In a written statement, which was made public by the Iraq inquiry on Monday, former Attorney General Lord Goldsmith said Mr Blair's public suggestion in January 2003 that Britain could attack Iraq without further UN backing had not been compatible with his legal advice.
He said he could not remember precisely when he had become aware of the comments, but told the inquiry: "I was uncomfortable about them and I believe that I discussed my concerns with [then foreign secretary] Jack Straw and my own staff..."
He also told the inquiry he understood the need to make public statements which "left Saddam Hussein in no doubt about our firmness of purpose".
The BBC's Peter Hunt said after taking evidence from dozens of people, in public and in private, and reading thousands of documents, the committee now wanted to fill in the gaps.
"Mr Blair, when he appears on Friday, is likely to be questioned about a discrepancy between what the attorney general had told him in January 2003 - that a second United Nations resolution explicitly authorising the use of force would be necessary - and what the then prime minister was saying in public at the time," he added.
Webmaster Forum | SEO Forum | Coding Forum | Graphics Forum</b>
The panel will spend three hours questioning Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy, former chief of the air staff.
His appearance comes ahead of a second inquiry session for former Prime Minister Tony Blair on Friday.
Written evidence from the then attorney general, released on Monday, showed he had been uncomfortable about statements by Mr Blair before the 2003 invasion.
The inquiry panel, led by Sir John Chilcot, is holding an inquiry into the UK's role in the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq and its aftermath.
The committee has been holding hearings since November 2009, in which it has questioned a host of former Labour cabinet ministers, senior military commanders, civil servants and diplomats.
A third and final round of public hearings is due to begin on Tuesday afternoon, and the inquiry is expected to report its findings by the summer.
Sir Glenn will be questioned about his role as the UK's air component commander for the March 2003 invasion of Iraq.
He was also the military's chief of joint operations from 2004 to 2006 before leading the RAF from 2006 until 2009.
The inquiry will also hear for the first time from current Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell and former Cabinet Secretary Lord Wilson of Dinton.
In addition to Mr Blair, the inquiry has also recalled former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, Admiral Lord Boyce, chief of the defence staff from 2001 to 2003, and Lord Turnbull, cabinet secretary from 2002 to 2005.
In a written statement, which was made public by the Iraq inquiry on Monday, former Attorney General Lord Goldsmith said Mr Blair's public suggestion in January 2003 that Britain could attack Iraq without further UN backing had not been compatible with his legal advice.
He said he could not remember precisely when he had become aware of the comments, but told the inquiry: "I was uncomfortable about them and I believe that I discussed my concerns with [then foreign secretary] Jack Straw and my own staff..."
He also told the inquiry he understood the need to make public statements which "left Saddam Hussein in no doubt about our firmness of purpose".
The BBC's Peter Hunt said after taking evidence from dozens of people, in public and in private, and reading thousands of documents, the committee now wanted to fill in the gaps.
"Mr Blair, when he appears on Friday, is likely to be questioned about a discrepancy between what the attorney general had told him in January 2003 - that a second United Nations resolution explicitly authorising the use of force would be necessary - and what the then prime minister was saying in public at the time," he added.
Webmaster Forum | SEO Forum | Coding Forum | Graphics Forum</b>