Iraq War Dead Relatives 'Let Down' as Chilcot Inquiry Due Out Next Summer
Relatives of those killed in Iraq have voiced disappointment after it was revealed the Chilcot inquiry will not be published before next summer.
Rose Gentle, whose Royal Highland Fusilier son Gordon, 19, was killed in a bomb attack in Basra in 2004, said she was "disappointed'' by the news.
An inquest heard that Fusilier Gentle might have survived the attack had his Land Rover been fitted with vital bomb-disabling equipment but an order to collect the kit had not been passed on to his unit.
Ms Gentle, from Glasgow, set up the Military Families Against The War group and was present at the inquiry on the day former prime minister Tony Blair gave evidence.
She said: "We thought it should be out a lot sooner than this. I thought it would be out by the end of the year, because they have everything there.
"It's another let-down. It's another few months to wait and suffer again.''
Karla Ellis, whose brother, Private Lee Ellis, died when his Snatch Land Rover was blown up in February 2006, said: "How can something take this long? I lost my brother nearly 10 years ago.''
She added that she was not expecting much to come from the report, saying "justice doesn't reach the people involved''.
Ms Ellis, from Wythenshawe in Manchester, was one of a number of relatives of those killed in Iraq who took legal action against the government for damages.
She said today: "For anyone to be held accountable I'm not holding my breath, but if anyone is that would be good. The amount of time it has taken has been horrendous. It's just an absolute nightmare.''
Reg Keys, the father of Lance Corporal Tom Keys, who was killed in Iraq in 2003, said he reacted "with a certain amount of anger because I just think this delay has gone on just far too long now''.