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| PM to face Iraq inquiry next week | PM to face Iraq inquiry next week |
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| Prime Minister Gordon Brown will appear before the Iraq war inquiry on Friday 5 March, it has been announced. | |
| International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander will also give evidence on the same day. | |
| Foreign Secretary David Miliband will face the inquiry, taking place in central London, on Monday 8 March. | |
| In an interview last week, the prime minister said his appearance would be a chance to show "everything I did was both thought-through and justified". | |
| The BBC News Channel's chief political correspondent Laura Kuenssberg said the PM's evidence would draw considerable interest, not least because of claims by former defence secretary Geoff Hoon that Mr Brown - chancellor at the time - had been a key figure in the decisions that led to the 2003 Iraq invasion. | |
| Inquiry chairman Sir John Chilcot originally said the prime minister would not give evidence until after the general election - expected in May. | |
| However, following pressure from opposition parties, Mr Brown agreed to appear earlier, with Downing Street insisting he had "nothing to hide". | |
| In an interview with Tribune magazine last week, he said he did not want the public to think there were "unanswered questions" ahead of an election. | |
| "I also want my opportunity to explain what I tried to do and how I managed the things I managed to do." |