4.1 | Iraq WMD assessments, pre-July 2002

490. Mr Charles Gray, Head of Middle East Department, and Mr Edward Chaplin,

Director Middle East and North Africa, agreed.

491. A letter from Mr Straw’s Private Office to Mr Campbell on 25 April recorded

Mr Straw’s understanding that Mr Campbell’s meeting had:

“… agreed that the launch of the Iraq dossier must not convey a misleading

impression of imminent military action, and therefore decided that new material

should be added to cover the record of inspections, humanitarian issues and

the GRL.”215

492. The letter set out the FCO preference for separating publication of the dossier from

activity on a GRL, including that:

• “The WMD dossier would eclipse the humanitarian message of the GRL/OFF

resolution.”

• The “Arab world” was “particularly unreceptive at present”.

• The “best bet” might be for publication to coincide “with a renewed effort to get

weapons inspections readmitted”.

• The release of the dossier should be co-ordinated with the US and briefing

“governments, notably in the Arab world, in greater detail than is possible in a

public document”.

493. Mr McKane continued to co-ordinate work to refine the Iraq paper.

494. Mr McKane held a further meeting to discuss progress on the draft public

documents on Iraq on 26 April.216

495. The meeting was informed that the WMD paper was “ready, although as a living

document” it would need “a few days notice to prepare before issue”. The FCO would

finish the paper on weapons inspections by 2 May and it was finishing the paper on

human rights abuses. The documents would “need to be cleared with Washington”.

496. The FCO and CIC were preparing “Q and A” material and Mr McKane would

“check with No.10 on the desirable extent of ministerial involvement in launching the

package”.

497. Mr McKane sent the draft papers ‘Iraqi WMD Programmes’ and ‘Iraqi Regime

Crimes and Human Rights Abuses’ to Sir David Manning on 26 April, reporting that:

• The “WMD paper is in a finished condition, though John Scarlett continues to

keep it under review”.

215 Letter Sedwill to Campbell, 25 April 2002, ‘Iraq: Adoption of the Goods Review List’.

216 Letter Dodd to Gray, 26 April 2002, ‘Iraq’.

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