MIDLAND dad Reg Keys, whose son was killed by an Iraqi mob, told an official inquiry into the war that it was not a “just cause”.

Mr Key’s son, Lance Corporal Tom Keys, 20, who lived in Llanuwchllyn, near Bala in North Wales, was one of six members of the Royal Military Police killed in southern Iraq in June 2003.

Mr Keys, who lives in Solihull, said the inquiry should look at the legality of the war, concerns that British troops were not properly equipped and whether there had been justice for those killed.

He said: “We were led to believe this was a just cause. I think it’s becoming abundantly clear now from the evidence already given that it was not a just cause.”

Mr Keys, 57, has been an outspoken critic of the war and stood against Mr Blair in the 2005 general election.

After the session, he said he felt reassured that the inquiry would not be a whitewash and that chairman Sir John Chilcot and his panel were doing a thorough job.

“There have been reports in the media that maybe it (the inquiry) had lost some of its thrust and some of its incisiveness,” he said.

“I don’t think I go along with that.”

Sir John has stressed that the inquiry is not a court of law, but Mr Keys suggested that its findings could be used to bring war crimes charges against Mr Blair.

“There will be a full report, which could be the basis of legal proceedings afterwards,” he said.

“If there is enough evidence in there that suggests Tony Blair has committed a war crime, then indeed that could be used to take that further.”

At yesterday’s hearing, Tony Blair faced fresh claims that he covered up evidence that Saddam Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction (WMD) before invading Iraq.

The father of a serviceman killed in the conflict alleged that the former prime minister used WMD as a “way in” to the war despite being told by former UN weapons inspector Hans Blix that the weapons did not exist.

Richard Green urged members of the Iraq Inquiry to look closely at how arguments about WMD were used in the run-up to the March 2003 invasion.

His son, Royal Navy Lieutenant Philip Green, 30, from Caythorpe, Lincolnshire, was one of seven personnel killed when two Sea King helicopters collided over the northern Arabian Gulf two days after the start of the war.

He was speaking at the special session of the inquiry in central London for bereaved families.