Jack 'torture' Straw: I didn't ignore legal advice on Iraq

Monday, 08 February 2010

LONDON (AP) — Britain's former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has told the country's inquiry into the Iraq war that he didn't ignore legal advice in the build up to the 2003 invasion.

The inquiry was commissioned by the British government to examine mistakes made before the invasion and during its aftermath. On Monday, it recalled Straw for a second evidence session after being told Straw had dismissed the opinion of lawyers.

Michael Wood — Straw's chief legal adviser in 2003 — has told the panel that he advised that an invasion without a U.N. resolution authorizing the use of force would be illegal.

Straw — foreign secretary at the time — told the inquiry that Wood's advice "frankly, was contradictory."

He said he reviewed Wood's opinion, but didn't accept it.

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