LETTERS TO TONY BLAIR: Saddam Hussein's lawyer wrote these letters as part of a plan for the Iraqi leader to step down before war was declared - but Blair ignored them

Between the years of 2003 and 2011, more than 461,000 people died as a result the Iraq war. In the aftermath of the second Gulf War, a power vacuum allowed the ISIS/Islamic State death cult to flourish.

What if this catastrophe could have been prevented?

Sarosh Zaiwalla, a quietly spoken Indian lawyer living in West Sussex, claims that he could have facilitated a deal between Hussein's government and the West through former UK prime minister Tony Blair, avoiding a huge loss of human life.

At the time, Zaiwalla was in a unique position to act as mediator between the two sides. He had represented Hussein's government in a legal case in 2001 and is also a personal friend of Blair. Zaiwalla was the future prime minister's boss for a short time in the 1980s.

Iraqi government representatives told Zaiwalla that they were prepared to do a deal with the US government, and that "everything was on the table" - including the resignation of Hussein.

Zaiwalla sent letters (below) to Blair explaining the potential for a peaceful solution, but the offers in them were declined.

With the long-awaited Chilcot report on British involvement in the conflict due to be released on July 6, we caught up with Zaiwalla.