Blair aide defends Iraq intelligence report

Former British prime minister Tony Blair's communications chief defended the dossier he put together that helped justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq, telling an inquiry it was "a solid, serious piece of work."

Alastair Campbell on Tuesday told an inquiry in London examining Britain's role in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq that he was present at key meetings, but did not play a primary role in the decision to establish the government's policy about the invasion.

Hestood up for his work in preparing a controversial dossier in 2002 that claimed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein could have nuclear weapons within a year and that Saddam had chemical weapons that could be fired within 45 minutes. No evidence was ever found for either claim.

"I defend every single word of the dossier, and I defend every single part of the process," Campbell said. "It was a genuine attempt by the prime minister and the government to engage the public properly."

PM did not steer intelligence: Campbell

He said British intelligence chiefs were under no pressure from the government to produce evidence to strengthen the case for the invasion.

"At no point did anyone from the PM on down say to the intelligence services, look, you have to tailor this case,"Campbell told the panel, asserting that intelligence chief John Scarlett and his management team were satisfied with the report.

He said mistakes in the dossier were failuresby intelligence, notby himself or Blair. The inquiry, which began in November, is looking into whether Blair pledged support for the invasion of Iraq before Parliament approved military involvement in 2003.

The panel hearing testimony at the inquiry won't lay blame or establish criminal or civil liability, but will give reprimands if warranted and make recommendations.

Campbell is among the first members of Blair's inner circle expected to give testimony of his version of events, with Blair himself expected to appear in late January or early February.

Dutch reportinvestigates support for war

His testimony comes on the same day an independent commission in the Netherlands released a report saying the Dutch government let politics override law when it threw its support behind the U.S.-led Iraq invasion.

The report found Dutch intelligence agencies were "more reserved" in their assessments than the government inlooking atthe case for the invasion, which Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende supported openly.

Balkenende had insisted his government's support of the invasion was limited to political statements and did not involve sending any troops to Iraq, and the report agreed, saying persistent rumours of Dutch military involvement were unfounded.