|
LONDON, July 20 (Xinhuanet) -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair will face further questions about Britain's intelligence failings over the US-led Iraq war as he attends a parliamentary debate on the Butler inquiry on Tuesday.
Blair, who still defends his
decision to launch the war together with the United States, was expected to clash
during the debate with Michael Howard, leader of the major opposition
Conservative Party.
Howard was reportedly to concentrate on the Butler
inquiry's findings and would also widen his attack on Blair to the abuse of
Iraqi prisoners by British troops and the alleged lack of preparedness for the
reconstruction of the country.
The debate comes after Lord Butler, who led an
independent inquiry into Britain's intelligence on Iraq's weapons of mass
destruction that was behind Blair's decision to join the US-led war against
Iraq, ruled last week that the government's prewar intelligence on Iraq was
unreliable and untrustworthy.
Blair's appearance before the
lawmakers on Tuesday comes as an ICM poll suggested that a majority of voters
think he lied over Iraq
.
The survey, conducted days after the publication of
the Butler report, said 55 percent of those questioned thought Blair had lied
about the case for war. Enditem |