Former top diplomat blames Blair for Iraq's crisis

Former top diplomat and Britain's ambassador to the US during the Iraq war has rejected Tony Blair's claim that the violence in Iraq is linked to Syria and not the 2003 war in Iraq.

Sir Christopher Meyer, who was Britain's ambassador to the US from 1997 to 2003, said Mr Blair's decision to intervene in Iraq was naive and said the handling of the campaign against Saddam Hussein was "perhaps the most significant reason" for the sectarian violence now ripping through Iraq.

"There are many reasons for this disastrous state of affairs," he wrote in the Mail on Sunday.

"Perhaps the most significant is the decision taken more than 10 years ago by President George W Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair to unseat Saddam Hussein without thinking through the consequences for Iraq of the dictator's removal."

Tony Blair has blamed the violent insurgency in Iraq on the "predictable and malign effect" of the West's failure to intervene in Syria and denied it is linked tot the West's invasion in 2003.

Tony Blair: Violence in Iraq linked to Syria, not 2003 War