Factbox: Tony Blair to appear at Chilcot inquiry

Jan 28 ( Reuters) - Former Prime Minister Tony Blair is due to appear before the Chilcot inquiry into Britain's involvement in the Iraq war, on Friday.

Here are a few facts about Blair:

* PRIME MINISTER BLAIR:

-- Blair, 56, was the Labour Party's longest-serving prime minister and the only one to have led the party to three consecutive general election victories.

-- Blair will be remembered for helping to bring peace to Northern Ireland. However the order to send 45,000 British troops to take part in the 2003 invasion of Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein has always been controversial and led to massive anti-war protests in London.

-- Blair faces questioning on Friday about Britain's entry into the Iraq war from a committee which has heard the decision was illegal and based on deception, its chairman, John Chilcot said earlier this month.

* SINCE 2007:

-- Blair was named the new Middle East envoy for the International Quartet in June 2007, hours after he stepped down as British prime minister.

-- He was verbally attacked while visiting a mosque in Hebron in October 2009 and he has remained unpopular with some Arabs for supporting the 2003 invasion and for what they perceived as his bias in favor of Israel when prime minister.

-- Blair, who became a Roman Catholic in 2007 launched a "Face to Faith" initiative last June to get schoolchildren of different religions and countries talking to each other using video-conferencing. Blair had launched a Faith Foundation in 2008 which aims to improve understanding between different religions.

-- This month Britain's Business Secretary, Peter Mandelson, said Blair would join the ruling Labour Party's campaign for an election that must be called by June 2010.

* LIFE DETAILS:

-- Born in Edinburgh on May 6, 1953, he spent most of his early years in Durham in northern England. Blair was educated at an exclusive boarding school in Scotland but disliked it so much that at the age of 14 he tried to run away.

-- He studied law at Oxford University and trained as a barrister in London. At university, Blair played guitar and sang in a rock band called the Ugly Rumors.

-- He was MP for Sedgefield in England from 1983-2007 and became leader of the Labour party in 1994 after the sudden death of John Smith.

-- Blair's ability to connect with the electorate and work his media magic was sealed in 1997, following the death of Princess Diana, when he called her "the people's princess" and delivered the line with convincing sincerity.

-- After the September 11 attacks on the United States, Blair declared that he stood "shoulder to shoulder" with America, and hitched his future to its new president, George W. Bush. The leaders formed a bond and at one meeting even announced they shared the same brand of toothpaste.

-- Blair has four children with his wife Cherie Booth, who is a successful barrister.

(Writing by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit)