Former Prime Minister Tony Blair will be called to give evidence to the Ira war inquiry early next year, Britain's Sky News reported Friday.

 

Blair was among a number of senior Labor party figures who were to be questioned in public in January and early February.

 

"We will ask them to explain the main decisions and tasks, and their involvement," said John Chilcot, chairman of the inquiry. "That will give us a clear understanding of how policy developed and was implemented, and what consideration was given to alternative approaches."

 

The first five weeks of public testimony, which was to begin Nov. 24, would come from senior officials and military officers, Chilcot said.

 

He said issues such as equipment, personnel, the "key decisions taken and their rationale" and the legal basis for military action would be covered during the first phase of public hearings.

 

Private sessions and analysis would follow before a second round of public sessions in mid-2010.

 

"In some cases, those hearings will be used to invite witnesses to discuss issues in more detail than in earlier evidence, or to pursue further lines of inquiry," Chilcot said.

 

Relatives of soldiers killed in Iraq have already warned that they plan to confront the former prime minister "face to face" at the hearings.

 

The inquiry, which was announced by Prime Minister Gordon Brown in June, will cover the entire eight-year period from the build-up to the war to the withdrawal of British troops.

 

Chilcot said some may be asked to appear again for more detailed sessions, but not until after the general election, which must be held in June at the latest.

 

His report will not be published until at least the end of 2010but the inquiry could damage the Labour party ahead of the election.