BAFF

Having had meetings with bereaved families, the Iraq Inquiry chaired by Sir John Chilcot has announced that the initial public hearings for the Iraq Inquiry will begin on Tuesday 24th November 2009 at the QEII conference centre in central London. The hearings will run until 17th December, break for Christmas, then start again during the week of 4th January 2010. It is expected they will run until early February.

• The Iraq Inquiry - Venue, initial dates and witness protocols for Iraq Inquiry public hearings announced

Evidence must be given in public says Iraq war inquiry chairman

(Press Association) Public hearings in the Iraq war inquiry will begin on 24 November at the Queen Elizabeth II conference centre near the Houses of Parliament. Organisers have laid out guidelines for witnesses which stress that figures including ministers and senior military officers will be expected to give live evidence. Inquiry chairman Sir John Chilcot said witnesses could only give evidence in private for "genuine" reasons. He said: "Ministers, senior military officers, members of the senior civil service and their equivalents, and former holders of those posts, should all expect to give evidence in public."

• source: The Guardian, Thursday 29 October 2009