Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has said the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq was partly responsible for the emergence of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in the Middle East.
"Of course you can't say those of us who removed Saddam in 2003 bear no responsibility for the situation in 2015," he said in the interview to be broadcast Sunday.
Blair's decision to take Britain into the Iraq war - based on what turned out to be false claims about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction - remains hugely divisive, and contributed to his Labour Party's loss of power in 2010.
Critics of the war hope the inquiry will conclude that Blair was determined to back President George W. Bush in his invasion plans, whether or not it was supported by the public, Parliament or legal opinion.