Blix 'told Blair Iraq had WMDs'

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Former United Nations weapons inspector Dr Hans Blix told former Prime Minister Tony Blair that he believed Iraq had weapons of mass destruction six months before the invasion of Iraq, the Iraq Inquiry has heard.

Giving evidence to the Chilcot inquiry into the war, Blix said he told Blair of his belief privately some six months before the invasion.

"I, like most people at the time, felt that Iraq retains weapons of mass destruction," he said. "I did not say so publicly. I said it perhaps to Mr Blair in September 2002 privately, but not publicly."

Blix said he felt that UN resolution 1441, passed on 8 November 2002, which gave Iraq "a final opportunity to comply with its disarmament obligations", could have given the country a "new start".

''If they had weapons, which I thought might well be the case, they had an opportunity," said Blix. "They could put the blame on some general or other."

Blix said that the resolution, which called for a report from weapons inspectors within 60 days, was at odds with rumoured plans of a January invasion of the country.

"I am a little puzzled, I must say, at how they calculated because the impression was that the invasion would take place through Turkey and that it would occur even in the beginning of January," he said. "That would have given very, very short time to the inspection."

"As it turned out we only had three-and-a-half months, but had they gone into Turkey it would have been even shorter."

Blix also said that in 2002 the United States "threw it [the need for a further UN resolution] overboard".

"I think they were high on military at the time," said Blix. "They said, 'we can do it'."

"Once they went up to 250,000 men and March was approaching, I think it was unstoppable or almost unstoppable - the (US) president could have stopped it, but almost unstoppable.

With the US push making war seemingly inevitable, Blix said that the UK was being carried forward like "a prisoner on that train".

"The whole military timetable was, as rightly said, not in sync with the diplomatic timetable," said Blix. "The diplomatic timetable would have allowed more inspections. UK wanted more inspections. The military timetable did not permit that."