UK government lawyer said Iraq war was illegal

LONDON (Reuters) - One of Britain''s top legal advisers during the run up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq said on Tuesday he believed the military action was illegal.

"I considered that the use of force against Iraq in March 2003 was contrary to international law," Wood said in a written statement to the inquiry.

"In my opinion, that use of force had not been authorized by the Security Council, and had no other legal basis in war."

In the weeks running up to the March 2003 invasion, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and U.S. officials tried to persuade the other members of the U.N. Security Council to agree to a resolution authorizing the use of force.

However, after negotiations failed, the British government''s top lawyer, Attorney General Peter Goldsmith, told parliament three days before the invasion that a combination of previous U.N. resolutions made the action lawful.

Wood told the inquiry Tuesday that he had consistently advised that regime change was not a legal basis for war, and action required a specific U.N. mandate, which was absent in the resolution 1441 passed in 2002.

"I made it clear that, in my view, the draft that they were working toward did not authorize the use of force without a further decision of the Security Council," he said, telling the inquiry he disagreed with Goldsmith''s view.

Other declassified documents showed he had also made it clear to Foreign Secretary Jack Straw in January 2003 that there was no legal basis for military action.

Goldsmith, who some commentators argue changed his advice after coming under pressure from Blair, is due to give evidence Wednesday.

BLAIR TO APPEAR

Blair himself will make his eagerly awaited appearance on Friday, and Wood''s evidence along with the now public documents will add to the pressure for him to explain why he sent 45,000 British troops to war in Iraq.