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Brown to testify at Iraq inquiry before poll: reports

22 January 2010 04:38 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Ziya Agazade â€“ APA. Prime Minister Gordon Brownâ€™s appearance at the Iraq war inquiry will be brought forward to before elections amid growing pressure for him to give evidence, APA reports citing Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The probe into the conflict which started in 2003 with the US-led, British-backed invasion had previously said it would not call Brown ahead of a general election due by June 3.
But the prime minister has faced growing calls from his political opponents to testify, which intensified this week with accusations Brown -- finance minister during the conflict -- had starved the military of vital funds.
The BBC and Daily Mirror newspaper both reported Brown would appear before the elections.
A government spokesman gave no official confirmation but said: "The prime minister has always offered to give full evidence to the Iraq inquiry and is happy to do so at any time."
Brown has publicly insisted he has "nothing to hide" and Wednesday told lawmakers he had to written to the investigation to stress he was willing to give evidence.
Pressure has mounted on the prime minister to testify recently as figures central to Britainâ€™s involvement in the war have given evidence to the inquiry.