Conservatives to call for Iraq inquiry

LONDON, June 11 (Reuters) The Conservatives are to ask for a debate into the Iraq war and its immediate aftermath during a Commons debate on Monday.

Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague is to ask the house to accept in principle an inquiry into the war, similar to that held into the 1982 Falklands conflict.

He said any lessons learnt could be applied in other areas of conflict such as Afghanistan, and that it would restore trust and confidence in government.

Prime Minister Tony Blair's administration has already held four inquiries into events linked to the Iraq war, and defeated a bid led by Scottish and Welsh national parties to force an inquiry into the handling of the conflict in October last year.

Hague told the BBC radio: ''It is particularly important when the situation is difficult to learn from what has happened in the past.

''I do not think an inquiry can be indefinitely postponed as the government keeps trying to do. It is very important for instance to find whether there are lessons that need to be applied to Afghanistan.

''I think a proper inquiry into Iraq is also essential to restoring public trust and confidence in the government, or any government, when it comes to taking decisions of this kind.'' He said the disbandment of the Iraqi army and Baath party in the immediate aftermath of the conflict was a ''calamitous decision'', but called for an inquiry to look also at the failure to deliver on promised infrastructure improvements, how British government departments were co-ordinated and the way the machinery of government operated in taking the decision to go to war.

The Conservatives had backed the attempt by the national parties to launch a probe last year, but Blair defeated the move, despite about a dozen rebel Labour MPs voting against the government.

Defence Secretary Des Browne has promised an investigation will eventually be carried out ''when the time is right''.

The Conservative motion comes just days after the 150th British soldier was killed in Iraq.

Reuters SKB RN1443