Cook war claims prompt inquiry call

Mr Cook said Mr Blair knew Iraq's weapons were not a threat

Robin Cook has accused Tony Blair of knowing some of his own warnings about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction were wrong before the war started.

The former cabinet minister's claims prompted calls for an inquiry into the decision to go to war with Iraq.

Mr Cook said that two weeks before the war, the prime minister no longer believed Iraq had weapons of mass destruction usable against distant civilian targets within 45 minutes.

Number 10 said dismissed the claims as "absurd" and said Mr Blair's views had always been "consistent".

"The idea that the prime minister ever said that Saddam Hussein didn't have weapons of mass destruction is absurd," the prime minister's official spokesman said.

"His views have been consistent throughout, both publicly and privately, as his cabinet colleagues know.

"Robin Cook's views are well known and have been expressed many times before."

COOK'S CLAIMS Tony did not try to argue me out of the view that Saddam did not have real WMD that were designed for strategic use against city populations Robin Cook

The Liberal Democrats called for a full inquiry into why Britain went to war.

Mr Cook resigned as leader of the Commons in protest at the conflict.

He said Mr Blair did believe Saddam had the weapons at the time the controversial dossier into Iraq's intelligence was published last September.

But he said Mr Blair privately admitted a fortnight before the war, the dictator had no weapons posing a "real and present danger".

He said Mr Blair had told him he was not even concerned about Iraq's battlefield chemical munitions, which could be used against British troops.

"All the effort he has had to put into concealment makes it difficult for him to assemble them quickly for use," the prime minister reportedly told him.

Following US

He added that Mr Blair had appeared prepared to go to war regardless of any progress made by UN weapons inspectors.

Mr Cook recorded Mr Blair as saying: "We must steer close to America. If we don't, we will lose our influence to shape what they do."

Mr Cook also said the head of the Joint Intelligence Committee, John Scarlett, "assented" a month before the war when he suggested Iraq had no WMD which could target large-scale civilian targets like cities.

Such weapons were limited to battlefield chemical munitions, he said. Mr Blair did not, two weeks later, disagree with this view.

The prime minister's views have been consistent throughout, both publicly and privately, as his cabinet colleagues know Downing Street

Mr Cook also claimed a "large number of ministers" spoke up in cabinet against British involvement in the US-led military action.

Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Menzies Campbell called for a full inquiry into the reasons why Britain went to war.

"If these allegations are true they are explosive," he said.

"Robin Cook's comments, the failure of the Iraq Survey Group to find any weapons, and the likely conclusions of Lord Hutton's Inquiry will all make for a torrid autumn for the prime minister.

"We need an inquiry headed by a judge to look into the question of whether we went to war on a flawed prospectus, either because of inadequate intelligence or the mishandling of intelligence once obtained."

Former Culture Secretary Chris Smith, who led opposition to the war in the Commons, said the diaries backed up his belief that Mr Blair was primarily motivated by the desire to remain close to the US administration.

Robin Cook's comments, the failure of the Iraq Survey Group to find any weapons, and the likely conclusions of Lord Hutton's Inquiry will all make for a torrid autumn Lib Dem's Menzies Campbell

"If he keeps on insisting, without any sort of qualification at all, that he was right all along and we did the right thing and we haven't learnt any lessons from what we now know, then I fear that the electoral water is going to continue to be very choppy for him," he said.

But Work and Pensions Secretary Andrew Smith told Sky News that Mr Cook's description of near-mutiny in the Cabinet was "unrecognisable" from the meetings he attended.

Mr Cook's new book, Point of Departure, is based on diaries kept during the tense period in the run-up to the conflict.