Annex 5 |
How to read and navigate the Report
19.
The Government
has required redactions to certain documents under the
terms
of
the Protocol
between the Iraq Inquiry and Her Majesty’s Government
regarding
Documents and
Other Written and Electronic Information. Those
redactions appear
in three
forms:
•
as thick
black lines in the transcripts of oral evidence given in
private;
•
as blank
white space in whole documents published by the Inquiry;
and
•
as an
ellipsis (three dots) within quotations in the
text.1
20.
Certain
categories of information have been withheld from publication under
the
terms of
the Protocols agreed between the Inquiry and the
Government:
•
views
expressed by President Bush in conversations with Mr
Blair;
•
the
reference numbers of JIC Assessments;
•
the names
of SIS officers (other than C), who are identified in the Report
as
SIS1
to SIS10;
•
certain
material on the activities of UK Special Forces and the names
of
successive
Directors of Special Forces, who are identified in the Report
as
DSF1 to
DSF3; and
•
a small
number of other identities and capabilities that require protection
and are
identified
in the text by ciphers.
21.
The Inquiry
has received some evidence which it has agreed to
publish
anonymously
in accordance with the criteria in paragraphs 4a and 4b of
the Protocol
for
hearing
evidence by the Iraq Inquiry in public, and for identifying
witnesses.
22.
The Inquiry
has published and makes reference to a wide range of written
material.
Less
familiar categories of official document include:
23.
Telegrams were
electronically transmitted reports sent between the FCO in
London
and British
Embassies, Missions and Consulates overseas. Very occasionally they
were
transmitted
to or from other government departments and between overseas
posts.
24.
All telegrams
from the FCO in London were attributed to the Foreign
Secretary.
The most
important were seen by the Foreign Secretary in draft. All
telegrams from
posts were
signed, and almost always seen in draft by, the Head or acting Head
of Post.
25.
All telegrams
formed part of the FCO official record.
1
Not all
ellipses represent a redaction. Some represent text omitted by the
Inquiry for reasons of
relevance.
All ellipses in square brackets represent redacted
text.
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