LONDON, June 5: A British inquiry into flawed intelligence before the invasion of Iraq has interviewed senior ministers and appears to be extending its remit into the controversial area of political responsibility , a newspaper report said on Saturday.

The investigation, set up by Prime Minister Tony Blair's government in February after the United States established a similar probe, was officially handed a somewhat limited scope.

Inquiry chief Lord Robin Butler and his team were told merely to look into the structures and processes that led Britain's government to believe that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction.

This limited remit caused both main opposition parties, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, to withdraw support for the inquiry.

However, the Financial Times said Mr Butler has quizzed ministers and top officials about the intelligence used to justify a ruling by Britain's top legal official, Attorney General Lord Peter Goldsmith, that the conflict did not break international laws.

Citing sources "familiar with the inquiry process", the paper said that Lord Butler's questioning appeared to indicate he planned to examine how well the government had made decisions on the invasion.

This broader scope "opens the possibility of laying responsibility for flawed decisions at the door of ministers, threatening fresh damage to the government", the newspaper said.

Lord Butler, a former head of Britain's civil service, has told friends he was "stung" by the withdrawal of opposition support, as well as media predictions that the report, due next month, will be a whitewash.

Among those he has interviewed have been Mr Blair, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon, the paper added.

"It's more than information," one insider said.

"It's responsibility for cabinet-style government decisions."

Were Lord Butler to conclude that Mr Blair or his ministers made flawed judgments, the political damage could be extremely serious to a government already under intense pressure about Iraq. -AFP