Seven senior Cabinet ministers were shown the intelligence assessment which warned that war against Iraq could increase the threat from terrorism - including Clare Short, who quit over the conflict, Downing Street said on Friday.
Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, Home Secretary David Blunkett and Chancellor Gordon Brown were all given copies of the Joint Intelligence Committee document, Prime Minister Tony Blair's official spokesman said.
And the then International Development Secretary Ms Short, Trade Secretary Patricia Hewitt and Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott would have received copies as well, said Downing Street.
The disclosure came as Downing Street mounted a determined fightback to counter claims that Mr Blair had misled the country into war.
But Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith called on Mr Blair to explain why he over-ruled the intelligence warnings.
Mr Duncan Smith said: "Tony Blair was entitled to make that judgment and to take that decision. But given public concern over the controversy of the September dossier on Iraqi weapons, he should now explain why he did that. The country is entitled to know."
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