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The Chilcot report on the Iraq War may only come out next June because it was 'so badly written' that military chiefs have forced the inquiry to be reopened, it's been reported.

Author Tom Bower, who says he's interviewed 180 cabinet, Army and Whitehall figures for a new book, has made the shock claim after a torturous week for dead soldiers' relatives.

Inquiry leader Sir John Chilcot has refused to name a date for his six-year report's publication despite missing a deadline to do so laid down by the families - who have threatened to sue him.

He claimed to understand the 'anguish' of families who lost loved ones but he insisted the costly report must be 'fair'.

(Image: Reuters)

Inquiry staff say the delay is due to the 'Maxwellisation' process of having to contact people who've been criticised, but insist this is almost complete.

Mr Bower, however, claims the problems run deeper after military chiefs objected to passages blaming them for acts which were politicians' responsibility.

"The generals and admirals protested that they had properly obeyed their legal orders," he wrote in the Sunday Times, adding: "The draft was so badly written that parts were incomprehensible."

He claimed the political establishment wanted a 'whitewash' that would be over within a year but it soon became clear that wouldn't be possible.

"The Maxwellisation process exposed the inquiry’s forlorn grope in the dark," he added.

(Image: Daily Record)

"As honourable people, the panel members have correctly chosen to re-examine the evidence. In other words, they are now undertaking a new inquiry. They should be given a deadline of next June to finish."

The delay has been slammed by victims' families.

Rose Gentle, whose 19-year-old son Fusilier Gordon Gentle was killed in a bomb attack in 2004, told the Mirror: "Chilcot's not the one going to bed and having nightmares, dreaming about it every night.

"It’s gone on too long. The families have handed in a letter and our lawyers are seeing what they can do now."

John Prescott has warned Sir John Chilcot could be dragged before Parliament to explain his failure to publish the report.

An Inquiry spokesman said today she would not comment on the timing of the report.

But she referred to Sir John's comments in February when he said: "A major part of the work of the inquiry....is to construct a reliable account of all that happened, in very great detail, fully evidenced.

"None of that, as it were, is subject to the Maxwellisation process. It cannot be changed or filleted. It is only the conclusions and analysis on top of that account where a Maxwellee may want to argue."