Iraq inquiry hearing 'snub' claim

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The Iraq inquiry has been held in sites across the UK, but not in Wales

A Plaid Cymru MP claims the Iraq war inquiry is "snubbing Wales" because families of Welsh troops have to travel to England to give evidence.

Meirionnydd Nant Conwy MP Elfyn Llwyd, the party's parliamentary leader, said the role of Welsh service personnel was being shown "little respect".

The inquiry's first public hearings are in London next month. Others have been held in Manchester and Bristol.

An inquiry spokesman said the meetings were "organised to suit the families".

About 50 families from across the UK have said they want to talk to the committee, headed by former civil servant Sir John Chilcot, which will examine the period from 2001 to the end of July 2009.

Mr Llwyd said Wales has been "completely left off the radar" by the decision not to hold any hearings in Wales.

He said: "Yet again, Wales is barely an afterthought.

"Large numbers of Welsh soldiers were sent to Iraq to fight an illegal war and now the government is showing little respect to them, their fallen colleagues or their families by leaving Wales out of such an important inquiry."

'Positive response'

An Iraq inquiry spokesman said: "The inquiry's meetings were arranged in locations which reflected ease of access for the families who replied to its letter offering a session with Inquiry committee members and there was a strong Welsh presence in this phase of the Inquiry.

"Our meeting last week in Bristol was organised to suit families in the west of England and south Wales, and our meeting in Manchester the week before was for families from north Wales and the north west of England.

"On the whole we had a very positive response from those who attended.

"We very much appreciate the effort that family members and Operation Telic veterans went to in order to come to the various meetings and share their views with us, and the information they gave us will help inform the shape of the inquiry and the lines of questioning as we move towards the public hearings."