"Put to him repeatedly that there was a big difference between delivering a boat and being on a training exercise, the PMOS said that we were trying to establish precisely what had happened. That said, it was clear that the function of the eight military personnel was to train the Iraq river patrol service. Asked if there had been any Iraqis on the boats, the PMOS said not as far as he was aware. Questioned as to how, in that case, the Marines and Royal Navy sailors would have been training them, the PMOS repeated that we were still trying to piece together all the facts."

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