A proposed twinning between Aberdeen and the Iraqi port of Basra was among the more unusual revelations from the Chilcot report.
The tie-up with the Granite City was proposed by the Foreign Office’s then-head of Iraq Group Frank Baker in February 2009, just weeks before the final withdrawal of UK forces.
Basra was the scene of some of the heaviest fighting in the 2003 invasion and remained a flashpoint for the British troops stationed there during the aftermath.
After a visit, Mr Baker told Foreign Office officials that as well as work to rebuild the port’s capacity, it was important to “focus on the long-term relationships between Basra and the UK”.
The inquiry report records him as saying: “I have asked my team to draw up a mini-strategy focusing especially on areas such as co-operation in the educational field, including universities, local government co-ordination, city twinning (perhaps focused on oil, eg Aberdeen, or as a centre for a religion eg Canterbury), co-operation in the field of the arts and museums.”
Weird Chilcot revelation… Officials wanted to twin Aberdeen with Basra in Iraq
