Britain's Brown promises inquiry into Iraq war

Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown gives a news conference on the second day of an EU summit in Brussels March 14, 2008.

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will hold an inquiry into the Iraq war but will not do so until Britain's armed forces have withdrawn, a government minister said on Monday.

Brown's decision marks a shift from the policy of his predecessor Tony Blair, who took Britain to war in Iraq five years ago against a background of fierce political and public opposition which has still not abated.

Monday's Independent newspaper quoted a letter written by Brown to a left-leaning think tank, The Fabian Society, in which he said: "There will come a time when it is appropriate to hold an inquiry."

He gave no details of how broad any inquiry would be, or when it would be launched, but stressed it would not be now.

"Whilst the whole effort of the government and the armed forces is directed towards supporting the people and government of Iraq as they forge a future based on reconciliation, democracy, prosperity and security, we believe that is not now."

Foreign Office minister Mark Malloch-Brown told BBC television that Brown and other senior members of the government considered it "very important that there be an authoritative look" at the Iraq war.

"It will be held when there are no British troops ... deployed and in danger in front line roles in Iraq."

Blair -- who was President George W. Bush's strongest ally in the Iraq war, which started on March 20, 2003 and is approaching its fifth anniversary -- always insisted there was no need for a public inquiry, since the action had already been investigated by several parliamentary committees and by smaller probes into the security and intelligence background to the war.

But the Independent quoted Brown's letter as saying: "There is a need to learn all possible lessons from the military action in Iraq and its aftermath".

At the end of 2007, Britain had about 4,500 troops left in Iraq, less than 10 percent of the force sent by Blair to join the U.S.-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Brown has said the force will shrink to 2,500 by the middle of this year, including a small training mission and a rapid response team on standby. No timetable has been set for a full withdrawal of British troops.

(Reporting by Kate Kelland)