Britain's foreign minister during the Iraq war denied Monday he had ignored advice that the 2003 invasion was illegal, in his second appearance before the public inquiry into the conflict. Jack Straw said he read "with great care" an opinion given by the chief legal advisor to the Foreign Office at the time, Michael Wood, two months before war - but rejected it because it contradicted previous advice.
"I took a very close interest in the question of the lawfulness of any military action in which the United Kingdom might be involved," said Straw, who is currently justice minister in Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government. In his first appearance last month, Straw said he only "reluctantly" came around to back the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, accepting it was inevitable after Iraq rejected a final chance to disarm outlined in UN resolution 1441.
However, when he gave evidence to the inquiry a few days later, Wood threw into doubt Straw's version of events, saying the minister had ignored his warnings that a second UN resolution authorising force was needed. Straw confirmed he received Wood's advice on January 24, 2003 - two months before war - which said acting without a second resolution "would amount to a crime of aggression". He read this "with great care, and gave it the serious attention it deserved", before replying: "I note your advice, but I do not accept it."
Straw explained Monday that there was a "striking contrast" between this memo and one Wood wrote in December which set out a balanced view stating both why a second UN resolution was needed, as well as why it was not. "The advice that he gave was contradictory," Straw said.
In the end, Straw noted, former attorney general Peter Goldsmith decided in February 2003 that a second UN resolution was not needed and this was the "definitive legal advice" which justified war. The inquiry, which began in November, heard from former prime minister Tony Blair on January 29. The probe's chairman has said Blair could be called to testify again, while Brown is also due to appear in the next month or two.
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