Britain 'tried to keep Iraq army'

Britain tried to stop the US disbanding the army in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, Europe Minister Geoff Hoon has said.

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Mr Hoon says British ministers "lost the argument".

His comments come after a senior US official described the relationship between the British and American governments as "totally one-sided".

Downing Street said the two countries had "a very close" relationship.

I don't think we would have pursued the de-Ba'athification policy in quite the same way.

LinkHere

Mr Hoon says Britain did not want to disband the Iraqi army

Mr Hoon, who was defence secretary at the time, said he and other members of the government tried to persuade the United States not to purge members of Saddam's Ba'ath party from senior positions in the army.

He told the Daily Telegraph: "We would not have disbanded the Iraqi army.

LinkHere