Britain PM Blair faces demand for inquiry on Iraq

London, Oct 31: Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour government faces possible defeat in parliament today over a call for an inquiry into the Iraq war and its aftermath.

Scottish and Welsh nationalist members of parliament have put forward a motion calling for a committee of seven senior politicians to review the government's handling of the conflict.

Opposition Conservatives say they will support the motion, raising the prospect of an embarrassing defeat for the government if enough of Blair's own Labour members -- many of whom are unhappy about the whole Iraq conflict -- decide to rebel against him.

Blair's official spokesman said agreeing to hold an Iraq inquiry would send the wrong signal to ''an enemy who is looking for any sign of weakness at all.'' ''What matters is that we fully support our troops, that we do nothing to undermine their ability to do their job.

''That includes not sending any signal to those we are fighting that we are anything other than resolute to see the job through,'' he said.

Blair and US President George W Bush are facing a barrage of criticism over Iraq as the death toll for their forces rises.

Earlier this month Britain's army chief Richard Dannatt said British troops should leave Iraq soon because their presence was worsening security.

The Conservatives are not calling for an immediate inquiry, but want one to be established over the next year.

Conservative foreign affairs spokesman William Hague told BBC radio his party wanted the government to commit itself to holding a inquiry similar to the wide-ranging Franks Report held after the 1982 Falklands War.

He said Conservatives would support the motion to put pressure on the government.

''The practical effect if that motion were to be carried is that the government would have to come back to the House of Commons with their own proposals for an inquiry at the appropriate time,'' he said.

Reuters