Today’s blog looks ahead to the publication of the Iraq Inquiry and the forthcoming Nato summit, as well as the tragic events in Iraq on Saturday night.
Iraq Inquiry
The Daily Mail reports that the Chilcot report into the Iraq war could be used to prosecute British troops at The Hague, while former prime minister Tony Blair will not face charges. According to the newspaper, prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) confirmed that they would examine the 2.6 million-word report for evidence of war crimes by British troops. This is also reported by the Times, Sun and Daily Telegraph, in which former Defence Minister Sir Gerald Howarth called for Britain to leave the ICC if troops are pursued in such a way. Senior figures from Labour and the Scottish National party are meanwhile considering calls for legal action against Mr Blair if the former prime minister faces severe criticisms from the long-awaited inquiry into the war in Iraq, according to the Guardian.
Iraq
Most outlets, including the Daily Telegraph, Times and Guardian, report that more than 120 Iraqis were killed as they ate, shopped or watched football when a refrigerated truck packed with explosives and driven by a suicide bomber blew up on a crowded street in central Baghdad on one of the last nights of Ramadan. Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack, its third mass killing in three countries in recent days. It was the deadliest in Iraq this year, according to reports, and the first since government forces claimed victory in Fallujah.
NATO
An editorial in the Financial Times suggests that the forthcoming NATO summit in Warsaw has assumed even greater importance following the UK’s vote to leave the EU. It calls for the alliance to follow through on ‘tough and potentially divisive decisions’, such as the posting of four multi-national battalions in Poland, along with tanks and artillery.
Daesh Recruiter
A “matchmaker” who grooms British girls to travel to Syria to marry Daesh terrorists is a former university student from a wealthy family. The recruiter, who uses the pseudonym Umm Muthanna Al Britaniyah, is actually Tooba Gondal, 22, a former student at Goldsmiths, University of London, The Mail on Sunday reports.
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