Butler report to focus on legality of war

The Butler inquiry report is to focus strongly on whether the war on Iraq was illegal in the eyes of senior Government lawyers.

Lord Butler has taken evidence from Elizabeth Wilmshurst, the former deputy legal adviser to the Foreign Office who resigned because she felt ministers ignored her advice.

The inquiry has also probed Whitehall rumours that her misgivings were shared by other senior lawyers and has scrutinised the role of the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith.

Senior Whitehall sources today confirmed that individuals were criticised in draft chapters of the report which have been sent to the Government for comment.

Members of Lord Butler's team are meeting this week to decide the final wording of the report, due to be p ublished next week, including how strongly individuals are singled out for criticism. The inquiry was set up to examine the accuracy of intelligence used before the invasion of Iraq.

It is now expected to be most controversial in two major areas; the accuracy of claims about Saddam Hussein's weapons programme and the use made of this to obtain legal approval for the conflict.

Whitehall officials are braced for criticism of Downing Street, MI6 and the Joint Intelligence Committee for their roles in drawing up the 2002 dossier on Saddam's alleged weapons, which has been found to be inaccurate.

Lord Butler's report is expected to say crucial caveats were omitted from the assessment of the infamous 45-minute claim, which suggested Saddam had chemical weapons on standby. No such weapons have been found to exist. According to reports, the draft sections sent to the Government for comment criticise John Scarlett, the former JIC chairman newly promoted to be head of MI6, and Sir Richard Dearlove, the outgoing MI6 chief.

However, officials said the Government was responding to the points made and the final report may not single them out for blame.

In her first newspaper interview today, Ms Wilmshurst said the legal basis for war should be decided on "facts" rather than "assertions".

She said it "could be alleged that the use of force in Iraq was aggression".

MI6 is believed to have already accepted that the claim that Saddam could fire WMD within 45 minutes of an order was flawed.

The warning came from an Iraqi general described as reliableby Britain's spies but they now accept it was incorrect. Mr Scarlett was largely cleared in the Hutton report earlier this year for his role in the compilation of the dossier.

But Lord Hutton did suggest that the JIC chairman may have been "subconsciously" influenced by the desire of Mr Blair and his communications chief Alastair Campbell to present the strongest case possible against Saddam.

Leader of the Commons Peter Hain yesterday hinted that the intelligence services, if not the individuals who head them, may be the focus for criticism in the Butler report.

"I think MI6 and MI5 do a fantastic job for us. This is not to say that they do not make mistakes from time to time any more than government ministers like me or like the Prime Minister."

But Mr Hain added that ministers would not be party "to any kind of witchhunt".