Iraq Inquiry: The Key Points Explained

Disagreements over confidential messages between then prime minister Tony Blair and US President George W Bush have delayed the publication of the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq War.

The inquiry was set up to examine the initiation and conduct of the war, which began in 2003, and was officially launched nearly six years ago.

A panel of five Privy Counsellors, chaired by Sir John Chilcot, has summoned key figures to give evidence and examined thousands of documents about the arguments behind the decision to go to war.

:: Announced by then-PM Gordon Brown on 15 June 2009, the Iraq Inquiry was officially launched on 30 July.

:: It was set up following calls for an inquiry into the initiation and conduct of the Iraq War in 2003.

:: The panel is comprised of: chairman Sir John Chilcot, former Permanent Secretary at the Northern Ireland Office and a non-party member or chairman of a number of reviews and inquiries; Baroness Usha Prashar, Deputy Chair of the British Council and member of House of Lords; Sir Roderic Lyne, former British ambassador to the Russian Federation; Sir Martin Gilbert, former history don at Oxford University and author; Sir Lawrence Freedman, professor of War Studies at King's College London since 1982.

:: In his opening statement, Sir John said the inquiry would "consider the period from the summer of 2001 to the end of July 2009, embracing the run-up to the conflict in Iraq, the military action and its aftermath.

"We will therefore be considering the UK's involvement in Iraq, including the way decisions were made and actions taken, to establish, as accurately as possible, what happened and to identify the lessons that can be learned," he said.

:: In its terms of reference, the inquiry states it is "not a court of law" and that "nobody is on trial".

:: Of particular interest in the inquiry is the 2002 dossier which established "beyond doubt" that Saddam Hussein had and was continuing to produce Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). This dossier continued the "45 minute" claim, which stated that Saddam could ready these weapons in 45 minutes and led to claims the dossier had been "sexed up".

:: The Iraq War began on 20 March, 2003, with a "shock and awe" surprise attack, followed by a US-led ground invasion of Iraq. Saddam Hussein was captured in December 2003, but the conflict continued for several years as sectarian violence between Shia and Sunni militias erupted with the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians as well as an insurgency against coalition troops. The UK deployed 46,000 troops during the initial invasion, who were withdrawn in 2011. Some 179 British soldiers were killed during the conflict.

:: The first round of hearings began on 24 November 2009, and ran until February 2010.

:: The second round began on 29 June to 30 July 2010.

:: The final round started on 18 January and ran until 2 February 2011.

:: More than 200 Cabinet and Cabinet Committee meetings have been examined.

:: 25 notes from Tony Blair to President Bush have also been investigated, along with more than 130 records of conversations between Mr Blair or Mr Brown and the former US president.

:: The total cost of the inquiry currently stands at £9,016,500.

:: Evidence has been heard from a number of witnesses, including Mr Blair who was called twice. He insisted he had no regrets over the decision to go to war, and described the Iraqi leader as a "monster".

:: The delays have been triggered by disagreements over messages between Mr Blair and President Bush. They have also been caused by the "Maxwellisation process" - the procedure where individuals due to be criticised in an official report are sent details of the criticisms in advance so they can respond prior to the publication of the report.

:: On 29 May, 2014, it was announced that a tentative agreement had been reached on the release of communications between Mr Blair and Mr Bush. The final stages of the Maxwellisation process could then take place.