The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre (QEIICC), London’s most prestigious purpose built centre for professional meetings and events, has been selected to host the high profile Iraq Inquiry.
The initial public hearings for the Inquiry will begin on Tuesday 24th November 2009 and will run until 17th December, break for Christmas, then start again during the week of 4th January 2010. It is expected the hearings will run until early February. The exact dates of the sessions, along with the identity of witnesses, will be published closer to the time.
The Iraq Inquiry started its work at the end of July 2009. It will examine the period from 2001 to the end of July 2009, embracing the run-up to the conflict in Iraq, the military action and its aftermath. It will consider the UK’s involvement in Iraq, including the way decisions were made and actions taken, to establish as accurately as possible what happened and to identify the lessons that can be learned for government. Those lessons will aim to ensure that if the UK faces similar situations in future the government of the day is best equipped to respond to those situations in the most effective manner.