British Prime Minister Tony Blair followed the example of US President George W. Bush Tuesday, announcing that an independent inquiry will be launched into the intelligence used to justify his decision to go to war with Iraq.  

He made the announcement before the House of Commons Liaison Committee, one day after Bush announced a similar probe in the United States.

"I think there are issues" about intelligence that need to be looked at, Blair said.

However, he still insisted ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had "weapons of mass destruction capability" when Britain and the United States launched the war.

Making the first of his two scheduled appearance before the committee this year, Blair was questioned for two hours by a panel made up of chairmen of various Commons committees.

Blair had refused to hold an inquiry into the apparent failure in tracking down Saddam's alleged weapons of mass destruction.

Reports said that he urged people to wait for the outcome of the work of the Iraq Survey Group, which has been scouring Iraq for evidence of such weapons.

But pressure has been growing on both sides of the Atlantic since David Kay, the man heading the weapons hunt, quit his post, said intelligence suggesting Saddam had stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons was wrong.

On Monday, the opposition Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, called for such an inquiry while latest polls also showed a majority of Britons hoped for an independent public inquiry into the government's evidence for the war with Iraq.

British FM announces details of Iraq intelligence inquiry

British Foreign Secretary Jack Strawon Tuesday formally announced that the British government would hold an inquiry into the Iraq intelligence used in deciding to go to war with Iraq.

In a statement to the House of Commons, Straw told the lawmakers: "The prime minister (Tony Blair) has decided to establish a committee to review intelligence on weapons of mass destruction."

The upcoming inquiry could not cover the areas of the inquiry by Lord Brian Hutton, who last week exonerated the government of "sexing up" the intelligence on Iraq's alleged banned weapons, Straw said.

(Xinhua News Agency February 4, 2004)