British PM Gordon Brown to face Iraq inquiry in early March

Brown was finance minister at the time of the 2003 US-led invasion, and is being called to give his account of the conflict several weeks after then prime minister Tony Blair gave his long-awaited evidence on January 29.

Inquiry chairman John Chilcot initially said he would not call Brown or any other serving ministers until after the general election, which must be held by early June at the latest, to avoid it dominating the political campaigns.

But following pressure from opposition parties, Brown wrote to Chilcot saying he was happy to appear at any time.

Organisers said they would hold a ballot for seats in the public gallery due to the anticipated "high demand" for places, as they did for Blair's session.

"The specific date for Mr. Brown's session will be announced soon, but to help people decide whether they wish to take part in the ballot the inquiry has confirmed that it will be in early March," a spokesman said.

A third of the places in the 60-seat hearing room in central London will be reserved for families of the 179 British military personnel who died in the conflict, the spokesman added.