Britain's Blair faces demand for inquiry on Iraq

LONDON, Oct 31 (Reuters) British Prime Minister Tony Blair, U S President George W Bush's strongest ally in the Iraq war, faced the possibility of an embarrassing defeat in parliament today over his handling of the conflict.

A defeat would step up pressure on Blair to reassess his Iraq strategy at a time when politicians and even Britain's army chief have questioned the point of keeping British troops there.

The small Scottish and Welsh nationalist parties have put forward a motion calling for senior politicians to review the government's handling of the conflict, forcing the first parliamentary debate on Iraq in more than two years.

Blair and Bush face a barrage of criticism over the relentless violence in Iraq and the mounting death toll of U S and British forces there. Polls show that most Britons feel troops should be withdrawn from Iraq sooner rather than later.

Some opponents of the war in Blair's ruling Labour Party are likely to rebel against the government, threatening to overturn Blair's 67-seat working majority in parliament.

''Iraq is the biggest foreign policy disaster for half a century,'' Adam Price, of the Welsh nationalist Plaid Cymru party, told Sky television, referring to the 1956 Suez crisis.

''We really need to know how it is the government got it so badly wrong in the runup to the war, but also with the catalogue of errors that we've seen with the occupation.'' The main opposition Conservatives support calls for an inquiry, although they say it does not need to be immediate.

Conservative foreign affairs spokesman William Hague said that if the motion passed the government would have to put forward its own proposals for an inquiry.

MESSAGE OF DOUBT Blair has said there will be no shift in his strategy of keeping British troops in Iraq until local forces are capable of ensuring security. Conservative leader David Cameron has broadly supported that view, saying British forces must remain in Iraq while the Iraqi government wants them there.

Blair's official spokesman said a defeat for the government in a vote expected around 0030 hrs would send the wrong message to British troops and Iraqi insurgents.

''Think about the effect this will have tomorrow in Iraq. What you cannot afford to do in a situation where you have troops on service overseas is send a message of doubt or weakness,'' he said.

''You send it not just to our troops. You send it to those they are fighting.'' Britain's army chief, General Richard Dannatt, caused uproar this month when he said the presence of British troops in Iraq was worsening security and they should be withdrawn soon.

Blair has led his Labour Party to three successive election victories, but controversy over the Iraq war and opposition to some of his domestic polices have undermined his popularity, forcing him to announce he will step down within a year.

Blair won parliamentary backing for war in Iraq just before the invasion was launched in March 2003, despite a rebellion by about one in three Labour members.

Britain has held two inquiries into events linked to the Iraq war. A report by Lord Butler in 2004 cleared Blair of distorting spies' assessments on Iraq but exposed faulty intelligence. A second report cleared Blair of blame for the suicide of Iraq weapons expert David Kelly.

REUTERS AKJ BS1819