London, (IRNA): British companies have benefited from the award of oil contracts in Iraq because of the decision to help to overthrow Saddam Hussein’s regime, according to Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s chief foreign policy adviser Simon McDonald.

07-01-2010

McDonald said UK firms had “done pretty well” in a recent auction of oil rights and that Britain also had “privileged access” to the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

“I do think we have privileged access and I do think that they take account of our views in reaching sovereign decisions,” he said while being questioned at the resumption of Britain’s inquiry into the Iraq war on Tuesday.

McDonald, who served as UK Ambassador to Israel before becoming Brown’s adviser in 2007, said Britain was praised in Iraq for helping the country at a crucially important time and that there would be “lasting benefits for that”.

“I think they have also given us credit when making key commercial decisions — so in the recent auction of oil rights British firms did pretty well,” he said.

The adviser, who was also previously head of Iraq policy at the Foreign Office, further told the inquiry that Britain had delayed plans to reduce its troops in Iraq in 2008 after the US expressed concern at the speed of the drawdown.

"We went a little bit more slowly because that was what our key strategic ally wanted from us," he said, but added that the UK was not happy in its initial reaction.

“We quickly reflected and concluded that this an example of the Prime Minister of Iraq taking charge of the vital business of Iraq. So we decided, with the Americans, it was in our collective interest to support it.”

McDonald disputed that the war had damaged Britain’s image, saying instead that he believed the country’s reputation in the Middle East had been enhanced by the invasion of Iraq.

“It is a part of the world that respects a country which is prepared to put its forces where its mouth is,” he said. “Our key strategic relation is with the United States, and what we did in Iraq has helped that relationship.”

The inquiry, which started in November, is seeking to learn lessons from the 2003 war. It is not expected to report its findings until the end of 2010 at the earliest.