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The Iraq Inquiry was embroiled in a cover-up row today after it announced secret papers between Tony Blair and George Bush will not be published in full.

After months of deadlock, the Government has agreed Sir John Chilcot’s inquiry can release the controversial documents.

But it will only publish edited extracts giving the “gist” of 25 notes and 130 recorded conversations between the former PM and US President in the build up to the 2003 war.

And the inquiry has agreed not to reveal President Bush’s views.

The compromise immediately prompted accusations that the inquiry could be a whitewash.

Lib Dem MP Sarah Teather said: “A lot of people are going to be unimpressed if we end up with a version so edited we still have no idea what took place in those conversations. The proof will be when the report is published but I hope it will not be a whitewash.

“The good of the world depends on us learning from the mistakes that caused this calamity.”

Ex Lib Dem leader Sir Menzies Campbell added: “The word ‘gist’ can be subject to a whole variety of interpretations and is an unsatisfactory compromise.”

Sir John said there was still no date for the publication of the report but he hoped it would be “as soon as possible.”

In a letter to the Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood, he said the inquiry would now start examining the documents.

“Following our recent agreement on the principles for disclosure of material describing communication between the prime minister and the president of the United States, detailed consideration of the gists and quotes requested by the Inquiry has now begun.

“Consideration will be based on the principle that our use of this material should not reflect President Bush’s views. We have also agreed that the use of direct quotation from the documents should be the minimum necessary to enable the Inquiry to articulate its conclusions,” he wrote.

The release of the documents has delayed the publication of the report which was ordered in 2009 and finished its public hearings in 2011.

(Image: Getty)

At first the Government refused to release any of the papers between Blair and Bush amid fears it would upset the Americans and break the rule that official documents should not be released until 30 years after the event.

But it has now agreed to let the inquiry publish selective extracts.

David Cameron said recently he hoped the report would be published before the end of this year - more than 11 years after the invasion of Iraq.

But the inquiry still has to send out letters to individuals facing criticism in the report before it is published under the “Maxwellisation” process to give them an opportunity to respond.

Earlier this week, Mr Blair insisted he was not the reason for the delay in the publication of the Chilcot Inquiry report as demands for its swift release increased.

(Image: PA)

“It certainly isn’t me who is holding it up. The sooner it is published the better from my perspective as it allows me to go and make the arguments,” he said.

Taxpayers have already forked out almost £7.5million according to the inquiry website, the only source of concrete updates about its progress which has not updated for six months.

That included more than £1.3million in the 12 months to April 2013 despite the fact that Sir John held no hearings or other events.

The inquiry will have cost roughly the same in the year that ended this month, a Whitehall insider said.

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A Cabinet Office spokesman said: “The Government is pleased that agreement on a way forward on both Cabinet papers and UK/US exchanges has now been reached with the Inquiry.

“This allows for the declassification and publication of the material the Inquiry believes it needs to explain its conclusions.

“Resolving this issue has taken longer than originally hoped but these are sensitive issues.

“The UK/US Head of Government channel is very important and must be handled sensitively.

“The Government and the Inquiry are working to ensure the Inquiry’s report is published as soon as possible and the Government is doing everything it can to facilitate that.”