Iraq inquiry 'must be in public'

Sir John Chilcot, in a letter to Prime Minister Gordon Brown, said he would consult with opposition party leaders and senior MPs before deciding the exact format of the inquiry.

Mr Brown initially said that the inquiry would be held behind closed doors, but then announced some evidence could be taken in public following an outcry over the secrecy.

Sir John also agreed the need to give the families of those who died or were "seriously affected" by the conflict "an early opportunity to express their views about the nature and procedures of the inquiry, and to express them either in public or in private as they prefer".

"That will be important in helping us to decide how to go about the task, and explain what we are going to do," he wrote.

Former premier Sir John Major, senior military figures including ex-head of the Army Sir Mike Jackson and the head of the last official inquiry on the war, Lord Butler of Brockwell, were among critics who forced Mr Brown into a partial climbdown over openness.

No 10 sought to defuse the row by suggesting the Government did not have a "theological" attachment to closed hearings and that Sir John would have a degree of discretion in how he conducted proceedings.

Tony Blair, who was Prime Minister at the time of the invasion, was reported at the weekend to have urged his successor to keep the hearings secret to avoid them becoming a show trial.

In his letter, the inquiry chairman welcomed "the fact that I and my colleagues are free to decide independently how best to fulfil our remit".

Critics have insisted that witnesses, such as Mr Blair, should give evidence under oath.