Former British prime minister Tony Blair makes a much-anticipated appearance before an inquiry into the Iraq war tomorrow, his personal reputation as well as that of the Labour government at stake.
The decision to send 45,000 British troops to invade Iraq in 2003 was the most controversial of Mr Blair's 10-year premiership, provoking huge protests, divisions within his Labour Party and accusations he had deceived the public over his reasons for war.
Seven years after the US-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein, and almost three years after Mr Blair handed over to Gordon Brown, the issue still provokes anger.
Families of some of the 179 soldiers killed in Iraq will join an anti-war demonstration outside the building calling for Mr Blair to be considered a war criminal.
Some Labour leaders fear the inquiry, and especially Mr Blair's appearance, will reignite strong feelings on the issue among voters, denting support for a party already trailing the Conservatives in polls in the run-up to an election due by June.
"It's a pivotal day for him, for the British public and for Britain's moral authority in the world," said Anthony Seldon, a political commentator and biographer of Mr Blair.
"This is an enormous day and it goes way beyond him and his own reputation."
The inquiry is likely to focus on the public justification the government gave for war, notably the "dodgy dossier" of September 2002.
Mr Blair said in the dossier that intelligence had "established beyond doubt" that Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
No such weapons were ever found.
The inquiry has already heard from senior civil servants who said intelligence in the days before the March 20, 2003 invasion indicated that Saddam's WMD had been dismantled.
It will also examine the war's legitimacy and at what stage Mr Blair promised US president George W Bush that Britain would support military action against Iraq.
Witnesses have suggested Mr Blair gave that assurance in 2002 although then attorney general Peter Goldsmith, the government's top lawyer who eventually gave the invasion the green light, had warned him that using force for regime change would be illegal.
Reuters
