Inquiry hears Iran, Libya bigger concern for Britain ahead of 2003 Iraq invasion

Iraq not Britain’s main worry prior to invasion

LONDON — A senior Foreign Office official has testified that Saddam Hussein’s regime was not the British government’s main concern in 2001.

Sir William Ehrman says in remarks before the country’s Iraq Inquiry that Britain was focused on threats from Iran, Libya, and North Korea.

Ehrman — the director of international security from 2000 to 2002 — spoke Wednesday in the inquiry billed as the most sweeping look at the conflict by any nation involved.

Tim Dowse, the Foreign Office’s head of counter-proliferation, has also testified that Iraq wasn’t “top of the list.”

The inquiry could expose alleged deception in the buildup to fighting but won’t establish criminal or civil liability.